Whatever you think about “personal brand” and “online reputation,” recent events with Facebook, FedEx and Cisco fiascos prove that no matter on which side you stand, you’re being judged. This happens in real life, undocumented, and online, forever archived. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should buckle down, lock your Twitter, and cease interacting online.

At the end of the day, no matter where you interact online, be it Tumblr or Digg or foursquare, you should still consider who’s your audience, who’s likely going to see this and how much of yourself you want to reveal. Maybe you’re going to be slightly more sarcastic on Tumblr than you are on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean you should bad mouth your employer or client on Tumblr, while writing saccharine notes to them on Facebook. It’s about being congruent with yourself. You’re still you, but decide what aspects of your life you want to share online and how much of it.

Unlike corporate identities, such as Coca-Cola or Sony, people aren’t going to be talking about you whether or not you’re online. However, it definitely behooves you to go out and join conversations and add your own two cents. More and more, there’s talk about the human network. Yes, it’s powerful, but the “human network” has also always existed. So contribute to the online version and allow people to see what you have to add, and you’ll never know who you’ll impress.

I remember last year when consumer companies were starting to get very nervous about Christmas sales, articles in BusinessWeek and Harvard Business Review discussed the importance of not cutting marketing spending during a recession. Studies show that companies who power through a recession will do better because 1) people who have money now will buy their products and 2) a stronger brand identity equals more future revenue as well. Well, if you’re nervous about how your ‘personal brand’ is fairing after reading about how someone got fired from a Facebook status update, just remember: don’t be afraid to interact. Just be smart about it.