1. How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give at least two examples.
Your digital footprint can affect your future in lots of different ways. One common thing your digital footprint could affect is your job opportunities. Companies want to hire people that make them look good. If you have a bad digital footprint people could find out and link you to the place you work. Companies might hire people based on having a good digital footprint. Your digital footprint could also affect your college or university admissions. Schools don’t want to accept students who use the internet in an inappropriate way.
2. Describe at least three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.
One way is being safe with who you talk to on the internet. People lie to each other on the internet all the time because it is not the same as talking in real life. Another thing is being mindful of what you post. There are lots of different resources to look at that help with deciding what to post and what not to. The main idea is to not post things that are hurtful to others because posts like that won’t cause anything positive. A final thing to think about is to make sure everything you use on the internet is credible. Whether that be websites you use or people you talk to it very easy for people to lie on the internet.
3. If you could go back in time, is there anything you would do differently online? Think of what type of advice you would pass on to your younger self or other students. How could you go about explaining it to them?
If I could go back in time I don’t think there is much I would change. I am on social media but I don’t post a lot of things and when I do I always think them through. The advice I would have for my younger self or just younger users, in general, is don’t trust people you don’t now. There are a bunch of people on the internet and not all of them use it in a positive way. Even when your just playing games online people can be mean or creepy. So, it is very important to stick to the safer parts of the internet with people that you can confirm they are who they say they are.