May 07 2008
You looking at me?
Over two thirds of British business owners (67%) admit to having concerns that how they appear online could have a negative effect their business
According to research released hosting company Fasthosts 78% of business owners believe there to be personal material related to them on the Internet, and 43% admitted to anxiety that material posted online by others, like friends or partners, could have a negative effect on their business affairs. The research found that 1 in 5 owners routinely 'Google' for personal material on rival owners and 48% judge personal online material to be representative of a business person overall. Another survey of 300 people who publish their own personal website, as opposed to just social networking, found that 84% of those believed this offered more control over their online image, and 79% of personal website owners were happy to recommend the tool as a means of creating or modifying an individual's online image or identity.
Mark Jeffries, CTO of Fasthosts Internet Ltd said, "Today, the issue of online identity is clearly a concern for the British businesses. With it now being commonplace to search online for individuals as well as companies, proprietors should take care to present their own personal online material carefully and keep an eye on their online image accordingly".
As well as being more controlled, individual personal websites appear to be highly sociable just like social networking, with the average owner being contacted by 11-15 new people per year, and 21% being approached by 50+ new people per year. In relation to social networks, 68% of personal site owners valued their own sites as allowing more creativity and only 26% suspected that a social networking page could be more communicative.
