Hm. I need a debate about this. Found the meme on Facebook, and I beg to oh so slightly differ. The meme kind of says, 'worry about your character, not what people think about you.' And that's wrong.
Obviously one should strife towards a good character, like being honest, reputable (where the word reputation leads to!), and true to one's word, kind to others, and some more.
But reputation, should one not strife to build a good reputation too? If you're a salesman with a bad reputation, will you even get sales? So what people think of you is indeed important.
To prove it, look at the fortunes that business people, politicians, and celebs spend on PR-agencies to polish their public images, to influence what people think about them. Therefore, if someone is talking smack about you behind your back, stand up against that before other people start believing false rumors.
Thus, I'm debunking this empty internet cliché. Worry about both your character and reputation, and sue the living hell out of anyone that tarnish the latter.
