I guess it’s blogger beware…Look in the mirror before you blast someone for eternity - I know I will. Think about My Space and similar sites- and all of that deeply personal info people post about themselves and others. I fear there will be many unforseen consequences. My daughter was the victim of a vicious and cruel hoax wherein someone wrote sick things about her for months before we were able to get it shut down through an attorney. Blogging and unloading online is now a way of life that has many benefits- psychologists at Harvard recently published a study that concluded that Blogging can even be good for you-theraputic! There’s a dark side though and time will tell how much self-sabbotage will emerge when employers, potential mates and others read our old blogs and comments that live in infamy on the net. Beware of blogger Karma that surely exists somewhere in cyber space. Sometimes less is more when it comes to personal disclosures and public judgements of others.

Jerks will be jerks - and now they are multi-media. Some progress isn’t so great….

I just went to the site, I take it back - they are prolific and vindictive jerks. Whatever their axe to grind, it will soon overwhelm the search engines and make their way to the top.

Thoughts for RE folks everywhere.

1) Blog, twitter, plurk, do facebook, get linkedin etc. Get your REAL name (not some handle that you think is cute) on a bunch of high PR sites. Do it regularly. The search engines will rank those hits higher than any new or niche blog/site. Good links will overwhelm the poison links.

2) Just like Daniel said - watch your name daily. If something bad pops up, move quickly to address it.

You guys can feel we are vindictive, mean or whatever else you wish. The long and short of it, it didn’t have to go this way. Kentwood continues to ignore us, our Realtor we are guessing is on a leash so he can’t do anything. All it would have taken was Kentwood to follow through with what their managing broker said. Instead they stonewall us, the Better Business Bureau and soon DORA. If our Realtor hadn’t lied in the first place and left us $20,000 in the hole, well then this particular discussion wouldn’t be happening.
So we can look in the mirror each day, in the bathroom that has a huge hole in it. I wonder how our Realtor can look in the mirror when he was supposed to be protecting his client.
It didn’t have to, it doesn’t have to be this way but apparently you guys care more than Kentwood does.

This is real simple. Businesses HAVE reputations. Ever seen a business with a non-reputation? Used to be simple word-of-mouth. Now, the internet is the picket fence of the global village. People are talking (imagine that) and just because they are talking via blogs really doesn’t change anything that hasn’t existed for centuries. Kentwood Company is getting a bad rep. Instead of trying to shut up those speaking (because they happen to be speaking via a new medium?) perhaps Kentwood Company should — let’s see — address the problem?

@DaveWirsching, How do we shut these people up? If they gossip at the picket fence, should we tear it down? If they talk in bars and pubs, should we bulldoze those? If they chat in restaurants, should we torch the places? If someone writes something we disagree with? I know, we could burn the books! Whatever we do, let’s not address the cause or concern. Let’s combat the medium! I feel bad for whatever happened to Susan’s daughter, but I have to ask. Did she ever approach the person writing it and find out why? Ask them to stop? Try to make friends with them? Have a conversation?

I’m reading a book right now called “Groundswell” that has several great examples of how this sort of thing can be dealt with by businesses. Honestly, I’m suprised the Kentwood Company lawyer hasn’t contacted them for slandering their name.

I’ll have to keep checking back for updates!

I don’t know if the rest of you took the time to actually read some of the entries on that site. If there is any validity to the claims then Kentwood really messed up.

Title Rep there is a post that addresses your comment about slandering Kentwood, I won’t post a link here because I’m not really fond of the delivery method. I do believe in the concept of freedom of speech so they can post anything they like I just don’t have to link it.

Dave we shouldn’t have to blog and join every single social network out there. I like what Daniel said in his post treat your clients with respect and if you mess up, fess up. I know things happen and you can’t please everyone but my feeling is my reputation with my clients is strong enough to stand up to criticism even it if is harsh. I would work with my upset client and try to work things out rather than battling on the net.

From what I was able to glean this issue started in April and the blog in June it’s certainly been long enough for Kentwood to have done something to calm the client rather than stalling. I don’t think I would ever create a site or account to do what they’re doing but after reading I can’t say I blame them.

All - I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m more interested in the issue of negative information on the web and how you deal with it.

BTW - this web site is the equivalent of standing in front of their office and shouting obscenities all day. In most places that isn’t allowed. Right or wrong, the site exists and should be addressed.

@Charlie T. - I don’t want to shut people up or burn books. What if the site was fabricated? (not saying it is). What if your online detractors have some sort of psychological issue? (not saying these people do). There is absolutely no governor on the web or comments. I just propose you get out in front of them.

@Maureen - if you have good relationships, these sorts of web posts shouldn’t impact your current clients. The problem lies with new clients. Most people now use the web to check out a new relationship - if you see the negative links, it’s much easier to move on to the next provider than figure out if it’s true - client lost.

Charlie is right- you can’t shut down every detractor. In our case, we exhausted the reasonable solutions privately without responding to the offensive posts, and were glad we did it that way. It turned out to be a case of a depressed and disturbed person, who ironically later got the help she needed and eventually apologized for her actions! So I vote for trying to handle these things privately and focus on nurturing your loyal clients and partners. Solid testamonials are worth their withg in gold and go a long way to negate the occassional stray negative should it arise.

Dave I don’t have a dog in this fight either and I really have a hard time with the approach these people have taken. However I have to say I can’t judge them as I haven’t walked in their shoes.
What if their Realtor did exactly what they said he did?(I don’t know that he did) What if Kentwood is shirking their responsibility in this matter?(who knows) It cuts both ways and I am trying to see both sides.
When I said I feel my reputation with my clients is strong enough I guess I wasn’t clear. My clients WOM in my opinion should be strong enough to outweigh the detractors if they spoke out. I don’t think I have to join every site or blog like a crazy person to get out in front. I treat my clients with respect and fortunately for me I get that back from them.
I don’t agree that the site is akin to “shouting obscenities”. Like it or not the site is actually pretty well written and even a little funny at times. I know there are sites that use curse words and are just outright nasty but unfortunately for Kentwood and their broker this isn’t one of them. I do agree with you when you say “Right or wrong, the site exists and should be addressed.” For me that’s the crux of the whole thing. It appears that site exists because Kentwood has ignored these people, bad idea.

I feel bad for everyone involved.

And you know, I found this blog post through a search on my name….

Which brings up a good point - how can you really own your name when you have a name that’s as common as ours is? I mean, the first web hit for “Daniel Martin” is on Amazon, because the name is so common there’s a moderately well-known book titled “Daniel Martin”.

I do wonder how many false positives your vanity RSS feed gets.

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