My Digital Footprint

Rachel Winsor

[1]

As part of a school assignment we were asked to Google ourselves and see what we found. I looked several times to see if I could anything about myself, but I couldn’t find anything. I also know that a few weeks back some Soar Leaders from my school looked up everyone from my class. I know that I was one of the few that didn’t have anything found on them. I probably wasn’t able to find anything on myself because when signing up for something online I typically don’t used my real name, or only use my first name, Rachel.

[2]

How might your digital footprint affect your personal brand and future opportunities for post- secondary? How might it affect your job prospects? Why is it important to be aware of one’s digital footprint?

Your digital footprint is very important in your future. If you have a good or clean footprint then finding a job or getting into post-secondary will be a lot easier then if you have a not so great footprint. Lets say a video got out of you drinking irresponsibly or smoking under age, that might make universities think that maybe someone else should get that spot in that course you want to take. Maybe if you want to work for someone and they see you aren’t responsible they probably won’t give you that job. Lets say you already have a good or even great job in business and have a big reputation among others and then a video of photo shows you doing something not so great, then your reputation might be ruined for good. People want good people, not people that party all weekend long. They want someone they can trust. If you had a business would you want the person who is responsible or not? You always have to be aware of what you are posting online, because even something from years back can impact you now. Also remember other people have social media as well, so they could post something of you being irresponsible and even tag you in it. Always be careful what you post and do because it can impact your future and it will if you aren’t careful.

What are three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe?

Strategy #1

You can start by making sure what you are posting is appropriate. This one is important because people are going to look you up before the hire you or let you into a school, and like I said before it will affect if they want you or not. Always check what you are posting before posting.

Strategy #2

Don’t use your real/full name. It is okay if you use just your first name or just your last name or even your middle name. If you give out your full name a stranger could probably find out a lot of information about you and that could be dangerous. So you would be best off not using your full name.

Strategy #3 

Think about this, whatever you post or say will be there forever. Make sure that you think about what you say or post because forever is a long time. Lets say you post something when you’re 11, that could possible affect you when you are 18 or even older or younger.

What is digital permanence?

This is a confusing topic. It basically means that once something goes online, it is there to stay. Even if you take it down it could still be there on the internet. Especially if you post it on something well known, because people could have saved it and then posted it somewhere else. If you post something know that it will be there forever even if you don’t want it to. Even if you think it is gone it could appear years later out of the blue.

[1]https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/1878484/feet_foot_footprint_footprints_print_prints_trail_icon

[2]https://www.reddit.com/r/Thinking/comments/anlyzx/decided_to_add_the_thinking_emoji_hand_on_the/