The Web is much more like real life than we may realize sometimes. The days of your online experience feeling like a series of cold, anonymous, transactional exchanges are quickly coming to an end. You're way more than just an IP address now, and the web is collecting and storing your identity whether you want it to or not.

Architects of the Web have locked their cross hairs in on "social" everything with laser precision. We use Facebook to manage personal connections, LinkedIn to manage professional connections, and Twitter to manage our fleeting thoughts. The Internet is effectively penetrating all of our real life relationships - in a ubiquitous kind of way - providing us with both fascination and danger (think reputation).

It's very easy to be overlooked, forgotten, critically judged and even blacklisted on the Web. So let's start by making the assumption that you want to have a positive, successful experience there... just as in life. Here's 4 tips to help make that happen for both universes!

1. Serve and Protect Your Own Image

Would you go on a date without a shower or looking your best? Would you speak with a frat house tongue in front of your grandmother? When you start interacting on the Web you need to represent yourself with a positive image. Although you might behave differently (in real life) on a date, versus with your grandmother, versus at a frat house party, the web is typically a generalized audience. You need to conduct yourself in the best version of you possible - a "universal you" that looks good no matter who's doing the looking (i.e. judging).

When someone finds a profile of you on the Web, or the remnants of some interaction you've had, make sure it's not something that is going to embarrass or make you look dismissible, forgetable, or attackable!

2. Stand Out or Step Aside

You may have your image in good form, but keep in mind that many a brilliant man has died unheard. If you have something to share, on the Web (as in life) you had better find a way to make yourself stand out. Web users give you only seconds to make an impression before
disappearing at the speed of a click. Perhaps you have nothing to share or sell. That doesn't excuse you from an attempt at making an impact. The very least you can do is make a meaningful effort to engage with the connections you've already made. That can be as simple as letting someone know you're listening.

Upload your best avatar or display picture, and be liberal in your clicking of "Likes" and comments. Engage with the people who mean something to you. Find whatever it is that's interesting, unique, or special about you and share it. The web is no place for playing
introverted. It is a place to reinvent yourself. Nobody will see you blush, but nobody will see you at all if you don't make some attempt to stand out.

3. Thicken Your Skin & Be Prepared for Judgement

Many "other" people out there on the Web are going to ignore step 1, so you had better be prepared for their wrath. You may have the greatest, cleanest, most attractive image in the world, and the minute you put yourself out there, the demons of negativity will come. That's a side effect of standing out, but it's a necessary one to overcome. Remember, just as your valued contacts survive and thrive on your engagement, the people who attack you will die by the lack of it! Your very first rule of thumb is to blackout anyone who comes at you with negativity with complete radio silence. Don't respond because they are not worth the effort and it only fuels them. They are usually weak in their dedication, and they'll move on to a new target when you put them on ignore.

However, for the times when you anticipate a little controversy over something you've shared with the world, be ready. If you expect objections, then you should be prepared to provide a satisfying or cooling response to what is thrown at you. Be firm in your convictions. Be resolute in handling everything respectfully and courteously, without showing any sign of weakening under their wave of attack.

4. Give, Give, Give

If you followed tips 1-3, then you're looking good, standing out, and prepared to take on all comers. That's the portrait of the guy everyone wants to "be like", but noone really "likes". Don't miss the final ingredient. You have to give. Give to others by adding value to your relationships. Don't spend all day proving you're a genius on Twitter, talking about or uploading pictures of yourself on Facebook, or adding new accomplishments to your LinkedIn profile if you're not going to make some time to check out (and support) what your friends, colleagues, and anonymous Web denizens are doing out there.

You can be as strategic as you want about building yourself up on the Web, but in the end your perpetuation comes down to the strength of your relationships. Spend time and make meaningful injections with others, or isolate yourself without any allies in the battle for Web survivalism. When you need them, they'll be there. It's the nature of meaningful reciprocation - and it creates a cycle of positivity. That's where you want to be.

These tips will work equally well in real life and the Web. The Web just allows for a smoother, faster moving experience. Make sure you re-invent or enhance "who you are" when you put yourself out there. And don't neglect the opportunity to do the same in the real world, where we breath air, walk with our feet on the ground, and bump into people in their fleshy biological forms.