1. How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give at least two examples.
Posting things on the internet can sometimes lead to regrets that you can’t take back. Thankfully, I don’t have anything that I have posted that I regret. Sometimes, when you apply for a university, or a job, they check your social media. A lot of people usually are able to delete what they regret posting or anything that looks unprofessional, but sometimes, other people repost, which you aren’t able to take down. Your digital footprint can cost you a lot, but I don’t find it to always be a bad thing. You might have posted on one of your social media’s, something positive that you did for your community. Things like that are what some places are looking for and even if you forgot about that post, it can still benefit you. A main way of becoming popular is through social media which leaves a digital footprint for everyone to see. A lot of negative things also come with that. A lot of ways to become popular on social media is for you to do things that aren’t safe or appropriate, and having all that attention can lead to leaks about your personal life that you may not want people, like you employer, to know about.
2. Describe at least three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.
Some strategies to help keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe are:
- Not posting so much of your personal life
Strangers aren’t always the best type of people and can also sometimes be creepy. If you leak to much of your personal life, they may know everything about you and use it to their advantage, like (rarely) blackmailing you or stalking you.
- Ask other people to not tag or post anything without your permission, or to at least blur your face
Although it may be hard to go around and ask everyone you know to not post anything about them, it is important that in order to stay safe, you ask. During group photos with little to no context or location information may be okay, but still ask to check with how comfortable you are. Make sure to ask other people too if you want to post something because this can apply to everybody.
- Make your posts non permanent, let only people you know view, or ask someone responsible if it’s a good idea
You could do all three of these things to be extra safe. If you ask close friends who, for example, went to the same party that you want to post about, then asking them would be a bad idea. They have been influenced by the party just like you so making sure that you ask someone responsible is the best way. Some apps let you do things, like let only close friends, or people who have a link view your posts. Making sure that the people who view your posts are trustworthy is also important because you never know if someone is going to screenshot or share your post to people you don’t know.
3. 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.
Something that I would do differently if I could go back is to care less. When I first got social media, I was so attached to it for no reasons. I let anyone follow me and view my posts. Back when I posted the embarrassing posts, I didn’t realize it was embarrassing because I was too wrapped up in getting followers. I ended up getting teased about a few things from my neighbours, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad. Some advice that I would give is to make sure you’re old enough and meet the age requirements for an app or have parent supervision who has access to your account. It might seem uncool and weird because everyone else who doesn’t meet the requirement has it. If you’re old enough, then you might make better choices that you don’t regret in the future.