Digital footprint

Question 1: How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities?

Your digital footprint has a big effect of your opportunities in the future. When you apply to a job, they will obviously google your name and if there is something negative related to your name, you will automatically have a disadvantage over the other people applying for the job. Also depending on how well you have protected your social media accounts, they might find something that you posted or commented on that they find offensive and the same result will happen, you will have a disadvantage to the job. Your digital footprint is also a way that people can stalk you. you can find a lot of information about someone of just what you find online. Just by searching up my mothers name, which I am not going to say, I found a lot of videos on YouTube of me and my family and a lot of information about us on my mothers Facebook. This shows that you never know what is out there of you. For example someone might have been recording while you swore and you never knew they were recording. You would not know that it would make a difference by swearing but if your employer sees it, there is a chance of getting fired.

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Question 2: Describe at least three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.

One strategy to stay safe is to put all of your social media accounts on private so no one can see your pictures. If your account is on public, a lot of random people can follow you and learn information about you that they shouldn’t know about you. You can also keep your digital footprint safe by not commenting on videos and on personal stuff. If you comment on a YouTube video under your name, that is there forever under your name. If you comment personal stuff on your friends pictures, that is there forever as well. Try to make your comments and posts very generic to keep your digital footprint safe. Another way to stay safe is to not always use your real name. If you use your don’t use your real name, then people can’t track you to that website because they don’t know which one is you. However, they can tell where you are in the world because of your IP address, so you can buy a program that reroutes it to somewhere else in the world to ensure that you are safe.

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Question 3: What information did you learn that you would pass on to other students? How would you go about telling them?

I would tell students that your digital footprint is something that you can’t erase, so stay responsible with what you post or comment on because you can’t erase it. I would also tell them that people can track you and stalk you with what is online, so make sure your social media accounts are on private and that you don’t put anything to personal online.

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