My Digital Footprint

Your digital footprint is posting an impression of yourself through your digital activity. This includes promoting products, advertising, browsing, entertainment, building a social status to impress job hirers etc. Your digital footprint can affect you in positive and negative ways depending on you control your actions.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

Keeping my social media and online accounts private and in my control is extremely important because a lot of universities review your social media accounts before accepting. Posting inappropriate content and offensive comments could get your application revoked. This connects to when you apply for jobs. Your online content is viewed by job hirers and depending on what you post, they could have second thoughts on hiring you. This could lead you to ruin your reputation and other life changing opportunities to not come your way.

     POSITIVITY

Not everything on social media has to be negative. You can use social media to spread awareness about topics you feel need attention. For example, posting ideas on how you can reduce your carbon footprint, how to conserve water, etc. You can also use platforms like LinkedIn to create yourself a good portfolio/resumes for your future job. This way, companies will have a better understanding when they go to hire you and it sets a good reputation. Another way you can use social media to benefit you is by posting some of your finest work. My cousin always dreamt of being an artist and posted some of her best art online. This caught the eye of some famous social media influencers, and she started making art for them. Soon, she was accepted into one of the best art universities in the world. Using social media in these ways doesn’t cause harm to yourself and others. In fact, it can bring up life changing opportunities for you and you get the chance to educate other people too.

KEEPING SAFE

One way you can keep your digital footprint safe is by searching your name up on multiple websites and seeing what pops up when you do so. If there is anything intriguing, you will have a heads up. When I searched up my parent’s names, their LinkedIn and professional accounts were displayed. This shows that they have everything under control about themselves online which is a good thing. Another way you can keep your social media organized is by making all your accounts private, the way everything you post will only be accessible to the people you trust and know. Lastly, be friendly online. The nicer you are, the chances of you being a victim of cyberbullying decrease. Being positive and keeping yourself clean online will make it hard for people to pull you down online. 

Picture credits: Google photos