How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give at least 2 examples.
Your digital footprint could affect your job or volunteer opportunities because when you apply for a job, your employer could search you up on the internet or social media and find incriminating information about you. 
This could impact your chances of being employed because your employer could create their own unflattering image or ideas about you before they’ve even met you. Your digital footprint could also affect your relationships or social status too because often, when things are posted on the internet, they never really leave the internet and can stay around for many years. So, it’s very easy for a thoughtless photo or post mocking a religion, sexuality, or political view to resurface and cause problems with you on the internet or with people you know and live with.
Describe at least 3 strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.
One strategy you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe is to limit the information you put out there in the first place. Before you post, take a step back and think about what you’re going to show to the world. Does it reflect well on you? Does it create an image of you that you want? If the answers are no, then don’t post it and just keep it to yourself.
Another strategy is to search yourself up from time to time and find what crops up so you know that the information is correct, flattering, and what you’re okay with being out there. This could prevent you from being overwhelmed or oblivious to the image you project on the internet so if anyone tries to use it against you, you’re prepared and ready.
A last strategy for keeping your digital footprint safe is to report or delete things you don’t want out there. This will hide incriminating information about you and curb a post from going viral or causing a stir. It also gives you back control over your posts and pictures and allows you to recraft a more aware and safe image for you on social media.
What strategies could you use to protect your own identity when using social media?
A strategy I could use to protect my own identity would be not use personal information when I can like my age, address, fa
mily, and school so I can prev
ent strangers from finding too much about about me that could lead to me being targeted. I could also limit the things I say or post on social media because it could be used against me or to reveal things about me I don’t want to be shown since once you put something out there, you lose a lot of the control you have over it. Keeping things vague or more general in things like social media bios could also protect my identity and help me stay safe when using social media.
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