1. How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give at least two examples.
My digital footprint might affect my future opportunities through the way I present myself online – what I post, comment, etc. When applying for a university/college or job I want to go to, the school/employer might want to look at my past records and social media activity to see if my past posts reflect the school/company well. If my posts show that I have been active in my community by attending social events, serving the community or advocating for movements/groups I believe in, the school or employer might see that I am invested in the community. Furthermore, they could see what type of content I usually post or like, to see if they are appropriate for the environment I might be entering into as a student or employee. In contrast, if my past social media activities show I have been leaving hateful messages or encouraging hate against certain communities, the school/company will probably take that into account when evaluating me as a candidate.
2. Describe at least three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.
To keep my digital footprint appropriate and safe, I can limit the amount of things I share on social media, regularly change passwords and delete old accounts, and always make sure to thoroughly read and understand terms and conditions. Limiting what you share is very important, as it wouldn’t be a very good idea to share everything that you do, and definitely wouldn’t be a good idea to share personal information online. Regularly changing passwords can lower the chances of a breach occurring in an account or device, and deleting old accounts that aren’t being used also helps. Using variation in passwords is also very important. Finally, reading the terms and conditions to make sure that you aren’t being scammed or are agreeing to something you wouldn’t want, like an app that might track your activities is a good idea to keep your digital footprint safe.
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.
I don’t think there’s anything I would do differently online, as I am not very active online, and have been on Instagram for only 2 or 3 months. The only other social media I have is Discord, where I only communicate with friends, and have never mentioned passwords or personal information of any kind.