Vincent's Blog

 

DL assignment 3 Social Media and Me

Section 1:

• How might your digital footprint affect your personal brand and future?

The definition of a digital footprint is as the name implies- the footprint you leave behind digitally. What this means is everything you do online, such as tweet, post on Facebook, Instagram, comment on YouTube videos, etc. leaves a trail of information and data that stays with you forever. Your digital footprint can affect your personal brand and future in countless ways. A common way is applying for future occupations. It is almost guaranteed when you apply for a job, your name will be searched online by your recruiter/interviewer/manager. Often, especially if you have social media accounts, your digital footprint will be easily found by said people. While investigating your digital footprint, if they see something on your digital footprint that oversteps any boundaries (e.g. is inappropriate, illegal, goes against job guidelines, discriminatory, etc.) it is likely you will be rejected from the job and your reputation will take a hit. Sometimes, a bad mark on your digital footprint can be something from very long ago that you completely forgot about. Although your memory is not everlasting, your digital footprint does not disappear. This is due to the fact that once something has been sent out on the internet, it can be downloaded, shared, screenshotted, etc. So even if a post has been deleted, it has only been deleted from one account. Any other copies of it are still in people’s possessions and can be circulated very easily across numerous platforms all across the globe. An example would be Person A posting a disrespectful comment on Person B’s Facebook post. Maybe something personal was happening between them at the time but after things had been sorted out, possibly days later, the disrespectful comment was deleted by Person A. But during the time while the comment was still on the post, Person A applied for a job, but after the employer discovered his digital footprint, and found his disrespectful comment he rejected Person A’s application. Person A’s career was sabotaged because of his digital footprint, because of one single rude comment. This is merely one example of how everything and anything you do online can affect your life.

• Why is it important to be aware of one’s digital footprint?

It is extremely important to be aware of one’s digital footprint because of how heavily today’s society relies on digital applications and the internet. Everything can be permanent on the internet, and if the wrong people find the wrong “footprints” of your digital life, your career, reputation, and even life can be sabotaged or changed forever. Although, your digital footprint can also be used as a positive thing to help you. Once again using the example of applying for a job, if your employer finds your digital footprint and sees on your social media posts of you doing charitable work such as volunteering at the local food bank, raising a fundraiser to help with cancer research, and such positive things. Your chances of being accepted will be significantly increased compared to someone with the same qualifications as you but with a less positive digital footprint. Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind what you are leaving behind on your trail, manage a positive footprint in order to maintain a good reputation and leave a good impression on anyone that stumbles upon your digital footprint.

Section 2:

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

1. Use the THINK acronym before releasing anything public online (posting on social media accounts, etc.) is it True, is it Helpful, is it Inspiring, is it Necessary, is it Kind. An example using this acronym would be posting on your Instagram story a joke regarding Asian stereotypes. T – Maybe the stereotypes are true to some degree. H – The joke isn’t really helpful in any way, possibly aside from making someone chuckle. I – The joke doesn’t inspire anything. N – It’s not necessary. K – It isn’t kind, and could possibly offend people of Asian heritage due to the stereotyping.
2. Consider your audience. Think from other people’s perspectives before you post anything online. Make sure to try and include a wide variety of all kinds of people, because, for example: while your close friends might be okay with something, your authority figures (teachers, parents, etc.) might not. Example: You prepare to tweet a YouTube link leading to a YouTube video containing lots of swearing and inappropriate language. You think your friends will enjoy and be entertained by this video, but then you realize your little brother who is still in elementary school also follows your Twitter. You stop yourself from tweeting the video.
3. Make use of privacy settings. This is especially important within social media platforms. Applications such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat have functions that allow you to “private” your account. Essentially blocking off your posts from everyone except the people that request to “follow” you whom you accept. With this function, you can deny stranger’s requests to follow you, and only accept people that you know/are familiar with.If your account is public, it can cause all sorts of problems ranging from unwanted data-collection of you, personal photos being accessible to anyone, and unwanted attention on your digital footprint since it’s open to anyone in the world who searches for it. A great analogy of this is if you imagine that your social media and digital footprint is your house. A public, open account is like leaving your front door wide open for anyone to be able to come in and look around for anything. While a private account is having a locked door with a key that only you can hand out to people to come into your “house”.

(“Think” before you post!)

Put yourself in their shoes, how would you react to your post if you were someone else?

Will you keep your door locked (private account) or open for anyone to come in (public account)?

Section 3:

• How would you explain the idea of “digital permanence” to anyone in your spheres of influence: other students, your family members, your teachers, etc.?

I would explain digital permanence by first defining it. Digital permanence explains how data on the internet, no matter what circumstances, can be spread and have its lifetime increased, or become permanent. Then I would explain it and give an example. Digital permanence happens due to the fact that copies of anything on the internet can be made and shared. Just because a post was deleted doesn’t mean it no longer exists. Screenshots, downloads, archives, are just a few ways things on the internet can become permanent. The insane efficiency and ease of accessibility of anything shared on the internet and specifically social media has both its ups and downs. This means that not only can anything become permanent, it can also spread like wildfire and reach people all across the world. An example would be a post of a fight happening between two students that was recorded and uploaded onto YouTube. Maybe after a few months, the school found out about this video and forced the student who uploaded the video to delete it and remove it from YouTube. But in just a few months, the video had gone viral and hit millions of views. Countless people had screen recorded it and after the original video was deleted, more copies of it just showed up on YouTube. That is an example of how digital permanence can start. Now, the two students have to live with the fact that a video of them fighting is forever on the internet and accessible to anyone, including their future teachers, professors, employers, bosses, etc.

• Why should we care and be aware of “digital permanence?”

We should care about digital permanence because if something unwanted becomes permanent on the internet, countless problems can arise. It could sabotage someone’s digital footprint, ruin their reputation, reveal personal details. It could even cause mental health problems or scar someone that is a victim of having an unwanted video containing them permanently on the internet. Having said this, the best way to prevent unwanted digital permanence is to not post the contents in the first place. Make sure to use the strategies listed above that help keep digital footprints safe and secure because they help with digital permanence too.

Citations:

Ellis, D. (2016, January 12). Digital Permanence. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://prezi.com/stseouv2-sdi/digital-permanence/

Fiouzi, A., & Andrew Fiouzi Andrew Fiouzi is a staff writer at MEL. (2018, October 02). ‘Putting Yourself in Someone’s Else Shoes’ Doesn’t Work at All. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/putting-yourself-in-someones-else-shoes-doesnt-work-at-all

Smiga, G., Fr. (2018, September 27). The Locked Door. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://buildingontheword.org/the-locked-door/

Zelazko, A. (2017, September 1). The Thinker. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Thinker-sculpture-by-Rodin

Contributor, G. (2018, April 16). How Volunteering Can Help You Build Skills For Your Career. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://talentegg.ca/incubator/2018/04/16/volunteering-build-skills-career/

Monk, L., Louise, E., Blaszczyk R., C., Fern, Louise, E. (2020, March 11). THINK Acronym for Kinder and More Effective Communications (Infographic): The Launchpad – The Coaching Tools Company Blog. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/think-acronym-for-kinder-and-more-effective-communications/

CollegeGrad. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://collegegrad.com/blog/10-things-you-should-never-post-on-social-media

Digital Footprint. (2014, May 26). Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://techterms.com/definition/digital_footprint

Sebastian, L. G. (2019, January 23). No, THIS is the CLEANEST Setup. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DG2VxwFEA8xM&psig=AOvVaw1HG4ZN8kqwLsiEpl8RVroj&ust=1607583183161000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCIi1wZeowO0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Agha, J. (2014). Beautiful Stone Footprints By Iain Blake . Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://www.inspirefusion.com/stone-footprints-by-iain-blake/

Link: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbssports.com%2Fnba%2Fnews%2Flebron-james-honors-kobe-bryant-following-lakers-nba-finals-win-hope-i-made-you-proud%2F&psig=AOvVaw2bUET-X37D-sNU108Pc8kK&ust=1603083007008000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMC8qNyrvewCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

This photo was taken one day before Kobe Bryant’s death, Kobe was sitting courtside at the (his former team) Los Angeles Lakers game when Lebron James came to greet him, the two were great friends and they laughed and shared a moment of happiness as Kobe congratulated Lebron on passing him in NBA all-time points. I chose this image for my “image of impact” because the morning after the night this photo was taken, Kobe Bryant, along with his second-eldest daughter Gianna and seven others passed away in a helicopter accident. The whole world was shocked, and the whole world grieved, Kobe Bryant was not just a basketball player, but an inspiration and icon all across the world. Personally, I grew up watching his NBA highlights and he was the door that led me to my NBA and basketball passion. What impacted me the most was Kobe’s insane work ethic and mentality, one particular story stuck with me, Kobe had broken his right (dominant) hand, and instead of taking time to rest, he went to practice the next day with his right arm in a cast, and spent hours only shooting with his left hand until his coach forced him to leave the gym and rest.

Link:

This video is (one of) my favourite YouTube videos because of many reasons. I discovered this gem in my recommended videos list about 2 years ago and I’ve rewatched it many, many times, whenever I’m bored, sad, angry, hungry, have nothing to do, etc. this video always manages to bring me joy and entertainment. To give a quick synopsis of the video, a passenger on a New York subway sets up his tenor sax while across the aisle a bari sax player is giving a riveting performance to everyone on the subway, after finishing setting up, the tenor sax player walks towards the bari sax player and joins in with his playing, the two have an intense and amazing and extremely epic showdown while giving the rest of the very fortunate passengers music, entertainment, and joy. What affected me so deeply in this video was mainly how amazing this whole situation was, and also the way the tenor sax player sets up his instrument and joins, everything was so spontaneous and… legendary, there’s really no other way to put it, I felt like I was there experiencing it through the screen. I am forever grateful for the person who decided to whip out their phone and record the experience, as well as share it with the internet, and I am forever grateful for the two sax players who decided to bring their saxes to the subway that day, and forever grateful to the passengers for being a great crowd.