How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Include one positive impact, and one potentially negative impact?
My digital footprint might affect:
- Future job opportunities.
- Future relationships, including family, friends, or co-workers.
- What information could be shared with the public.
How I, or anyone manages their digital footprint will have consequences in the future. A positive digital footprint will lead to career opportunities and will maintain a good reputation in the public, while a negative footprint would lead to the opposite, and also possibly ruined relationships. It’s necessary to have a good digital footprint to have success in the future.
What are 3 strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe?
- I never make comments or posts that might even be remotely offensive or could start an argument. Online, I always try to be kind and understanding and avoid negativity. As well, I never reveal personal information to the public or overshare.
- I use different passwords for different digital accounts. This way if one account is at risk, all the others are still safe.
- To keep myself safe digitally, I make sure I have the right privacy settings on all social media accounts. I avoid chatting or connecting with strangers on media.
If you could go back in time, is there anything that you would do differently online? Think of what advice you would pass on to your younger self or other students.
One thing I would have done differently back when I was younger, is that I let strangers follow and see my posts on some social media accounts. Although I posted very little, and nothing that revealed anything about me.
Advice I would pass on to younger people:
- Only connect with people you know in real life online, if you’re not sure who’s on the other side of the screen, then don’t talk to them.
- Keep all your passwords secure, and use different passwords for different accounts. Never tell anyone your passwords.
- Before you say something, ask yourself if this seems okay to do and is a good idea. Think before you post.
- Don’t start posting on social media before your 13 without your parents/guardians knowing. You might be posting things that they might not approve of, and I think that this is something a lot of people including myself are guilty of to an extent.
- Stay positive! If you see something you don’t like, just ignore it. Don’t spread negativity and drama online, it’s not worth it.
In summary, I don’t believe it’s very difficult to keep yourself safe online. As long as you use common sense, follow guidelines, and spread kindness, you’ll be able to maintain a safe and positive digital footprint.