How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities?

After searching my name on google, I was shocked to find my named linked to multiple sites and accounts. Most of these accounts I made in elementary. It was, honestly, quite embarrassing to scroll through. I had google accounts, a WordPress account, and social media accounts, like vine, showing up. Also visible were things I completely forgot I had accounts for, like SoundCloud. I spent a good 45 minutes going through all these accounts to remove any childish information such as “My name is Nighina, I like to play soccer, and my favourite colour is blue.” Under images, I could only find one photo of myself that, again, I forgot I even took. You could also find my google+ background images and jokes I liked when I was 9. There was also photos of my friends, photos of band members, and album and 8tracks playlist covers that I used to listen to. I couldn’t find anything inappropriate or that could affect my future. Yet, my digital footprint isn’t very supportive. Since I made most accounts that show up when I was younger, they all were barely used and didn’t have that much information on them. You won’t find any information that describe what kind of a person I am, my thoughts or beliefs, and proof of extracurricular activities. This could possibly be because I barely do use the internet, only do I use a couple of sites that didn’t show up after searching my name. So after adding a key word in the search box, I did find more social media sites such as Tumblr and Twitter. These are social media sites I do use often and update. They would not have a negative impact to my future education or career. What I post on these sites do represent most of my beliefs, such as my re-blogged posts about equality, feminism, political views, and injustices in third world countries. This can help people understand my judgement of world problems, know my personality a little more, and how I might react in situations. It shows a little more about me that I might not be able to include or show in an application or interview. 

Strategies to help keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe. 

            Before joining a social media account, be sure to check their privacy settings first. This is to assure that the site doesn’t take advantage of your information. It is a way of knowing if your private info will be safe or not.

            Leave your personal life private. You can always have two accounts. One for school or jobs, where you can post things such as proof for your qualifications. You can have account for you and your friends/family to see where you keep it private, yet appropriate. An account for you to be able to share about your life and not have to sound professional.

             Never share your password. Be very careful with your password, with that being said, also log off of any account when using a computer/laptop that is shared. Generally, don’t let others have control of your account. You can never be sure what they will do with your information/account. They can post something inappropriate, use something against you, or gain information.

            Think before you post! I think this could be the most important thing to be aware of when using online sites. Whatever you post online, no matter if you delete it, will always be there. It never really disappears, and there are ways to find them again. Think, is it necessary to post this? Could what I want to post harm someone else? How will this look in five years? Will it affect my future, will I later on be proud of it? You don’t want a silly comment follow you around for years on your digital portfolio and have it affect your chances of a university/job acceptance.

What I learned.

I have learned that it is probably a good idea to keep track of your social media accounts, such as a list of them. You don’t need them being the first thing to pop up when you search your name, such as it did when I searched mine. Also, understand that whatever you post is forever, it’s really good to pay attention to what you post. The internet can seem very risky, and it may sound like a digital footprint isn’t a good thing to have. Well, of course, if your footprint is bad it can possibly ruin your future. It is also bad to not have a digital footprint. If used wisely, you can use the internet as a way to express yourself, prove qualifications, and give a good view of who you are. This is a type of digital footprint that is good to have and to be proud of, it may also help you in the future as a way of presenting who you are.