3 Reasons Business Owners Should Stay Anonymous Online

The Internet may be known as the information superhighway, but that information made easily accessible online must not include private data, especially of individuals like business owners.

Even if you are not doing anything wrong in the online community, it’s not surprising that privacy can be easily breached. There may be hackers watching your every move and piece of information you post online. It’s easy for them to take your seemingly harmless online data and use it for their ill motives.

Living in these modern days means individuals are moving into a highly digital phase. There’s so much reliance on the Internet, using it to obtain all sorts of information. The discussion on whether or not it’s a must to have an online presence may always be tainted with doubt, but one strong fact remains: if much is at stake, then it’s best to stay anonymous online by using tools like VPN for Android, among others.

There’s more to gain than lose by being private and protective of your online presence. If you’re still on the fence about staying anonymous online, here are some reasons why:

1. It Gives Freedom Of Speech

One of the advantages of staying anonymous online is that it enables business owners to practice to a higher extent their freedom of speech. The Internet can be a dangerous place to speak out, especially when there are very strong opinions from the online community.

For business owners, negative rapport online may hurt its brand identity and image. There’s always that chance that personal opinions of the owner will be linked to the business, resulting in negative effects like boycotts, among others. It can also affect your relationship with your stakeholders and investors.

To avoid this, it’s better to be anonymous with proxies and other tools. You don’t necessarily have to be absent from the online world per se—just don’t make it known so vividly that it’s you. By doing this, you can still enjoy your freedom of speech without possibly hurting your business’ image.

2. It Makes Reputation Management Easier

Reputation management is crucial to get right, particularly for business owners. There’s a lingering need to ensure that your reputation, both as an individual and for the corporation you represent, stays positive. Otherwise, the perception of your business will be tainted. There are too many horror stories of enterprises that failed to grow and weather through time simply because they have gone through a lot of online shame.

It’s harder for your online team to manage your online business reputation when your name as a business owner is out in the open. Their job will be easier when you’re anonymous, simply because the general public won’t even know it’s you. There is no connection between you as a person and the establishment you run, particularly for e-commerce businesses where you have both your store and a blog, for example. With this, it means that your online team will then focus only on protecting the reputation of the business and not the owner behind it.

3. It Provides Freedom Of Movement

Apart from staying private for their reputation’s sake, business owners must remain anonymous for their physical safety. While many private individuals practice geotagging and posting about their whereabouts, this can be highly dangerous for people of interest like business owners.

If you’re not anonymous and your followers can trace where you are, it’s like you’re delivering yourself to a sticky situation on your own, effortlessly. You may also be jeopardizing the lives of your employees and family. This shouldn’t be the case.

To enjoy more freedom of movement, it’s best to stay anonymous. By doing so, you can keep your public life separate from your personal affairs. This is truer, especially for those entrepreneurs who have already gained quite a high level of popularity in the local community.

Final Thoughts

Truth be told, online privacy and protection should be a forefront concern of business owners and private individuals alike. The urge to encourage them to stay as anonymous online as possible is now even more important than ever. While social media and the press can bring in more business, there must be a clear boundary between your personal and public life. Knowing when to leverage the digital tools available will help you maximize what to divulge online.

If you’re still doubtful about it, the list above should be more than convincing enough that staying anonymous online is the better and safer choice, especially for business owners.