On my way to Upstate New York from the Dominican Republic, I found myself lingering at JFK for over three hours. As I sat in the waiting area and hastily devoured my RSS feeds, I overheard a red-haired young lady sharing her plight with a friend. Her vindictive ex-boyfriend had uploaded some questionable pictures to Facebook: “My family and most of my friends have already seen the pictures! I kept untagging them and he kept tagging them back!”

Nowadays, if you want to keep a sound reputation, you have to work harder than ever. You can thank technology like digital cameras, cellphones, and laptops for this mishandling of your personal information online. Today, the notion of a long-lasting good name could well be oxymoron.

One may think we are all bound to live in a world in which everyone’s reputation could be tarnished due to a debauched picture on MySpace. However, that’s not necessarily the case. I’m not going to tell you how (or how not) to party. Instead, I am going to share with you a few straightforward measures that could help you diminish the chances of an unpleasant surprise in the future — the kind of surprise that augurs badly for your professional life.

Limit Your Friends in Social Networks

Are you sure every single one of those 500 people you’ve approved on Facebook is truly your friend? More contacts on a given social network provide a wider audience for that embarrassing photo. Consequently, only close friends should have access to all the colorful personal data shared in today’s social networks.

Treat Others Well

Try following Google’s motto: “Don’t be evil.” Grudges held against you can come back and bite you in the bum really fast. Perhaps our friend at the airport wouldn’t have had so many problems if she had handled the situation differently. Granted, we don’t know the circumstances that led to her dilemma; but treating people with respect and tact will almost always yield positive results.

Produce Content

It doesn’t matter how or where, but you must produce content on a regular basis. The internet and other forms of media provide you with all the tools you need. You can blog, write a book, or draw a comic. The reason is simple: Marketing. If you want any type of reputation, marketing and public relations will play a fundamental role. What better way to boost your image than to create a venue to showcase your ideas and charismatic persona? If you want others to remember your name and attach some meaning to it, you’ll undoubtedly have to create content of some sort first.

Guard Your Image

Be careful with the content you are putting online. Try to be clear about your intentions and politely clarify whenever there is the need to. Your words may easily be misconstrued on a blog or on any other form of wr it ten communication such as e-mails or IMs. On the internet, ambiguity is your enemy.

This advice is by no means a comprehensive list, nor is it a quick fix; the effectiveness of my suggestions cannot be measured in the short run. You’ll likely have to wait a few months, or even years, before you see results. However, given time, people will start associating your name with the content you produce. Slowly but surely, your reputation will help you achieve your goals instead of damaging your chances at success.