Using Google and other search engines, search for your name and see what comes up in the results in the first few pages. If you find something that isn't flattering, working to create online profiles that provide a positive resource for information about your previous works and yourself can help. Setup alerts so you can see when something new appears! Don't forget to revisit this search every once in a while.
Whether its a blog, your personal website, Twitter account, or simply a researcher profile, it is important to keep the information available online updated regularly. How often you update these sites can depend on how active you want to be online, but you should at least be revisiting your profiles every 6-12 months to post your new scholarly work.
For Social Media and blogging sites, it is important to show your personality for readers/followers to learn more about you. However, it is also important that you keep in mind these are professional profiles. Posting any aggressive or ill-advised comments/Tweets/posts may easily end up un-doing the hard work you have been doing to earn your professional reputation. To avoid this situation, be yourself, but be the articulate and professional version of yourself!
Your strongest ally in creating a strong and positive online reputation is your university. UNLV and the University Libraries offer a number of online resources to help manage your online presence, and experts to help you learn how to effectively utilize these tools. Reach out and use them as a quick and easy starting place!
Many websites, including networking and social media platforms, can and will use the data you provide them to track online habits. You can easily protect yourself by managing your profile's privacy settings, keeping an eye out for Terms of Service change notifications, and educating yourself on which sites do what with your information.