My Digital Footprint-Maya Patel-2016

How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give two examples.

I am proud to say that I believe that I have a very positive digital footprint. Although I do have social media accounts, I make sure to think twice before doing anything on them as well as always thinking about how what I am doing could affect me in the future and with future opportunities such as jobs. With saying this I keep my accounts very private and to only people I know. On top of that I share a very minimal amount of personal information such as only my name. Although when searching my name up, nothing about myself actually did come up, this is because my first and last names are very popular so other than me there are many other Maya Patel’s in this world. The only way I am able to find anything about myself on the internet is if I search up my actual username, but when doing this you still can’t see very much because like I said, my account is private. Social media is not the only thing I have on the internet, I also have an Edublog from grade 8 that we had used for a unit of social studies and on top of that I have another Edublog which is the one I have now for everything I do in school at Riverside. With all this said I believe that the digital footprint that I have left behind is a positive one and I believe that it will have a positive effect on my future opportunities. For example, when I am looking into getting a real and permanent job when I am older, there is a very high change that my possible future employer will look me up online to see my lifestyle and what kinds of things that I do, if he finds my digital footprint to be a positive one than I have a much greater chance of getting the job than if he were to find a negative one. Another example of how my digital footprint may affect my future opportunities is when I am trying to get into colleges or universities. This is another situation where the person in charge of allowing me to attend that school will look into my digital footprint to know better what kind of person I am.

 

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

1. One way to do this is by making sure your account(s) is/are private. This will give you the freedom to choose who you are comfortable with seeing what you post. You have the ability to only have close friends and family on the account/the social media site with you and not complete strangers.
2. Another way would be to never ever post about something on the day that it happened, this way you will have the time to think about what you are posting and you won’t be just posting in the heat of the moment. This will save you from possibly saying very hurtful and irresponsible things that could end up damaging your positive digital footprint.
3. ALWAYS think before you post. Make sure that you are absolutely comfortable with what you are posting before posting it. As well, make sure that what you are doing/posting is true, is not hurtful, is not illegal, is necessary, is it inspiring, is it helpful and is kind. By doing this you will be able to keep a very positive footprint very easily.

What information did you learn that you would pass onto other students? 

I learned quite a bit about a digital footprint and one of the biggest things I learnt was that your digital footprint is always there, that it will never leave you. Even if you thought to have deleted even single possible trace of it, it can still be found on the internet somehow. By saying this, I would tell other students to always be cautious on the internet and to always think twice about what they are doing on it. Having a positive digital footprint will help you later in your life in more ways than you think and I would tell them to always keep this in mind. Also that having a solid and beneficial digital footprint can even up your persona in someone’s eyes which could boost you higher above everyone else. But all in all, I would tell them that at the end of their day to make sure that they are proud of their digital footprint and to make sure that they feel as if they have nothing to hide in the subject of their online activities.

 

 

“Your digital footprint is your new resume” – Ross Cooper

Sources:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/edcanvas-uploads/102486/local/1377659806/Digital%20FootPrint%20Comic.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/1a/90/bd/1a90bdc27a2d5f738b7da1cb9a76c5b9.jpg

http://sybasigns.com.au/images/products-poplets/managing-digital-footprint-digital-resource-3.jpg

http://www.sjctweed.org/cs/cybersafety/Footprint_files/control-your-digital-footprint1.jpg

http://behaviour.education.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionImages/cybersafety/digital-footprint-poster.jpg

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bgQqFrfdNnc/Vk4O-bmEZaI/AAAAAAAAAk0/wWXOZrflVeE/s1600/app-foot-2.png

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lx4RYvYFHH0/UyxAHkMmAHI/AAAAAAAAAsU/9HNxQJdbxtU/s1600/Cartoon_DigitalFootprint.PNG