Do you need a Web publicist?

John Joseph Bachir is a programmer. He's also an amateur filmmaker. He has a blog and is involved in a series of software projects, some of which he runs. He sometimes records an audio show about odd Wikipedia entries. He even submitted a photo of penguins to Cute Overload, a website overrun with cuddly animals that make you think "Soooo cute!"

You can discover all this by checking JJB's (he often uses initials online) profile on ClaimID, one of many start-ups allowing a user to manage his online identity. Through ClaimID, Mr. Bachir consolidated information about himself available online, rather than letting a search engines decide what comes up when someone types in his name.

"My ClaimID changes with me," Bachir says. "Google doesn't change with me."

The Internet has matured to a point where so much of one's life is online that some people need methods of self-promotion and self-protection, concepts usually associated with the imagemakers of politicians and Hollywood stars. As more employers, workers, and singles use the Internet to check someone out, the idea of managing one's online presence doesn't sound so strange.

"It's a dawning awareness," says William McGeveran, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, who studies online identity. "More and more people understand the perils of self- revelation online."

Think about it: In an age where people create content on the Web inspired by the possibility of wowing millions, online identity management is a natural – if unintended – consequence. Someone's "virtual" identity can come back to haunt them.

"It's funny that today we all need an Internet publicist," says Christine Rosen, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. "The Everyman's publicist."

Online-identity management services range from agent and enabler to attorney and enforcer. ClaimID lets you pool information already online and claim it as yours. Other services, like Naymz, will promote you. ReputationDefender will try to clean up after you.

Changes in recruiting and hiring have fueled this demand. A June survey by ExecuNet, which studies recruiting trends, says that 77 percent of executive recruiters run background checks on candidates by using search engines. One-third of them (a slight increase from 2005) said they eliminated applicants based on what they found.

A survey by CareerBuilder.com found that 1 in 4 hiring managers used search engines to screen candidates. One in 10 also checked candidates' profiles on social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook.

Dan Hornig, a senior recruiting manager for Novo Recruiting, spends more than one-third of his day researching clients – and yes, that includes looking for information about them online. For Mr. Hornig, a Naymz user, the service is both a one-stop shop for applicant information (if an applicant is on Naymz) and a promotional vehicle. Just the other day, he says, 10 people viewed his profile.

Job seekers need to build and maintain an online presence because employers and recruiters will be out there looking. Exposure helps. "We all want that senior VP title and the six-figure salary," Hornig says.

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