The rise of social media has quite a lot to do with the damaging of the online reputation. Whether it is a business or an individual, social networking allows individuals to damage online reputations pretty easily.

The use of social media has skyrocketed, according to surveys linked in this article. They claim social media is up 230% since 2007, a pretty amazing figure.

The love affair between Internet-connected Americans and social networks continues, with two-thirds claiming to visit sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, up about 230% from the 20% penetration in 2007, and 43% are visiting these sites more than once a day, according to a new report by Experian Simmons.Multiple visits are up 28% compared with last year, the Simmons New Media study determined.

“The rise of social networking tracks closely with that of Facebook. As of April 26, 2010, 46% of the U.S. online adult population reported having visited Facebook in the past 30 days,” said the report.

People primarily logon to stay in touch with friends, followed by for fun and to communicate with family, according to the study. Career- and job-related reasons were low on the list: 19% said they used the sites to keep in touch with professional contacts; 9% wanted to make new professional contacts; 6% sought professional development; and 5% said it was part of their job, the report found.

If the rise of social media continues, it will reshape how industry professionals handle online reputation problems.