How Big of a Digital Footprint Are You Making?

Digital footprints. We all have one, like it or not. As you’ve grown from a toddler, to a child, to where you stand now, your digital foot
print has grown right along with you. It started growing before you were even born. Since that very day you were mentioned in your mom’s Facebook post about her having a baby, that one word began your very own digital journey. Your footprint has stuck with you all the way until now, and until the day you pass. It remembers all the good things you left online, as well as the bad. Despite the fact we all make mistakes, its inevitable, how does one keep a responsible and safe digital footprint?

You may not think about how your internet use will affect how the world views you, but depending on how you careful you are online dictates a good amount of your future. Being cautious of what you say about your co-workers,what opinions you share, and who you talk about online can all have an impact on your future career and/or life. For instance, say you were out at a party last night and you got home and were intoxicated, but you felt the need to express how you really feel about your boss. You posted a long, detailed description about how you think he’s been completely unfair lately. Things get carried away and you wrote some nasty things you probably never would’ve wrote if you weren’t under the influence. You delete the post the next morning, however, many people have already seen it, and then shared it with other friends, who then shared with other friends until your boss finds out about what happened, and fires you right away. As it turns out, you were already trying to apply for jobs at other companies but now that they’ve heard about your recent mishap with your ex-boss, they decide to reject your interview. So does the other company you applied for, and the other. Or say for example you like to go out to the bar every weekend with some friends. You always take many photos, but don’t usually post them. However, one night, your friends convince you to post a picture from the bar of you drinking. You aren’t so sure about this idea, but since they are your friends, you decide to go along with it anyways. You are usually very cautious about what you post so the next day you think you should take that picture off of your account because you’ve been trying to get accepted for university. You delete your picture, but many people have already shared it with others, including your friends. One of the friends you went to the bar with shared the picture and then posted it herself. When the university checks through your profiles and accounts, they see the pictures that you were tagged in, and the photo from the bar was there. They then deny your acceptance into the university. This is just one of the many example of how the internet can be beneficial or detrimental to our futures, but it all depends on how you use it.

Your digital footprint can become unsafe very easily and it’s super important to understand what safe online use looks like. If you know how to keep yourself and your profile safe online, it makes everything better. For example, having all of your social media accounts on private so that not just anybody can go and browse on your page. Yes, it is true that there are people out there that do know how to hack accounts and see what people try to keep to themselves, but it is crucial that you take the initiative to try and protect yourself the best you can. Another easy thing to do to keep yourself safe is to just stop and think about what you post before you actually publish it. I know it may sound like a simple process and something that is so easy to do (which it is), however many people don’t take it upon themselves to be responsible when posting. They simply click the “Share” button and poof, there it goes, onto the internet and stuck there for eternity. The worst part of all is that they had the chance to process what they posted, to judge if what they said would have any long or short term affects on their lives at all. But it doesn’t matter anymore, it’s gone. Forever. And then a couple years down the road, your dream job interview gets declined, all because of that one post. Finally, the last strategy to keep yourself safe online. Make sure you never, ever share any of your passwords with anyone, even your closest friends. At any given moment, you and your friends may have a fight, and your best friend that you gave all your passwords to, may use your social media to seek “revenge”. The next time you access your Facebook account, you see all the horrible things they wrote about your close friends, only they made it seem like it was coming from your point of view. You panic and delete it right away, only to find out hundreds of people have already shared your posts, and all the friends in the write-up saw it as well, and they are furious. One of them was actually a university teacher at the school you’ve always dreamed of going to. She is infuriated with you and she tells the school to deny your interview immediately. All because of you sharing your Facebook password with that person you thought was your closest companion. The way you use the internet and social media can have huge affects on your future, yet, they may not be the affects you were hoping for.

A few things I’ve learned from doing this research is that your digital use really does have quite an impact on your future, no matter what that might be. Everything you post or share online is there forever, there’s no going back. Once it’s been published on the internet, you’d better hope its something you’re comfortable sharing with the world, because that one post is now accessible to everyone, not just those two friends you sent it to. Another important thing I learned is that even if your profile is private, there are very intelligent people out there who are paid to hack into others computers and online sites to see what they share. Personally, I know that is something I should always think about before I say or post anything online (not that I do these things, but sometimes, us teenagers can get easily distracted with our internet use and not be bothered to think before we post or say something). Something simple that you can do everyday to just remember to think and remind yourself what kind of profile you want to portray and what your goals are, and how you are going to achieve them (whether that be going to a certain university or getting a particular job you’ve longed for). Something I would tell someone that is brand new to the internet is just to be cautious and thoughtful of what you and what others may post. Know that when you post something online, you won’t regret it and/or be ashamed of your decision. Also know how to be respectful of your friends and who you friend online. If you wouldn’t want someone to post something about you, don’t do it about someone else. It doesn’t just make them look bad, it also is a reflection of the type of person you are. Always make sure the friends you have on your social media are reliable and are real friends, not just someone who shares the same “interests” as you. The internet is a huge and sometimes overwhelming place, but its also one of our greatest tools in the twenty-first century, and it is up to us to decide how we use it and how we teach others about it.

*Websites that the images came from are listed below*

https://www.statista.com/statistics/553711/share-canadians-never-used-selected-social-media/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/

http://www.visualcapitalist.com/what-happens-internet-minute-2016

https://ramblingsofagiftedteacher.wordpress.com/2014/05/

http://www.intelligenthq.com/leadership/how-to-map-who-you-are-guide-to-personal-leadership-map-part-1/

http://www.scoop.it/t/educational-leadership-and-technology/?tag=digital+footprint