Everyone who reads this blog knows that many celebrities, sports figures, and politicans have been known to use online reputation management. However, this is the first report I’ve read of anyone using it for their children.

Colley said that for the last four years he has been running a programme where volunteers from businesses can visit schools, clubs and parent evenings to talk about safety and security online. In the last few months it has been focusing on increasing the amount of content related to online reputation so children fully understand the consequences that their online footprint now will have later on in their lives.

The article claimed that it is predicted that millions will employ someone to manage the traces they leave, perhaps even those who work in reputation management.

“Being aware of the consequences of our online behaviour from a young age has become as important a life skill as learning how to safely cross a road. It doesn’t stop with children though. To maximise the impact of our education efforts on children, we should also provide support to those parents and teachers who need to wise up so that they can help their children to do the same,” said Colley.

Students, sure, but young kids? I’m not sure I follow the line of reasoning. While 12 year olds can do some dumb things, I can’t imagine that many of them have a need of online reputation management services.