Written by ReputationStars.com
Summary: Did you know that your mug shot could be posted online for everyone to see? Fight back by using these tactics.
A publicly posted mug shot can have adverse effects on job placement, friendships, and even one’s emotional wellbeing. The worst part about it is that it can be easily found on Google or any other search engine, making it more accessible than you might think. If you were tangled up with the law in the past, chances are your mug shot might be posted on one of the many mug shot sites. Here’s how you can right your wrongs and help retain the dignity that was stolen from you.
Seek Assistance From a DMCA Agent
Filing a DMCA takedown notice can potentially get your mug shot taken down from a site if it is unlawfully posted without your permission. The DMCA, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act, consists of a group of laws that deal with challenges of copyrighted digital media. However, note that it’s quite difficult to get an image taken down – similar to that of cases involving TheDirty post removal inquiries. And, if you do manage to get it removed, it’s likely to stay in Google’s archives.
“Bury” the Mug Shot
Another tactic that’s commonly used to fix one’s online reputation is to push the mug shot so far into the search engines that it takes the user to click through multiple pages before it reaches your specific mug shot image. You can easily do this by creating multiple social media profiles with images linked to your name. Since Google tends to crawl the web on a daily basis, your social media images could essentially replace the mug shot by filling the search engine database with mainstream photos of you – i.e. headshots, casual pictures, etc.
Partner Up With a Reputation Management Firm
Reputation management firms actively work to either remove or bury negative images that you don’t want to be seen by the public. By using the aforementioned strategies combined with other tactics, you could gain that peace of mind without having to do the work yourself. It’s a great investment if you’re unfamiliar with the process of combining both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with social media techniques and can pay dividends if you choose the right company.
Let a Reputation Management Firm Help You
If the entire ordeal seems too much for you to handle, there are a variety of reputation management services, like Reputation Stars, that incorporate a combination of social media profiles and search engine optimization to, as mentioned before, bury your negative images deep into the results. While your image may never permanently deleted from the database, the goal of reputation management is to divert the crowd away from the images and instead focus on the positive life – therefore retaining the dignity that you believed to have lost when the picture was posted.