My Digital

Footprint

Gracyn K

WHAT’S A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT?

You may not know what a digital footprint is, but you probably already have one yourself.

A digital footprint is what you put on the internet. It’s what is on the internet that’s about YOU.

It’s called a footprint because you leave a trail on the internet, and it can all be traced back… even if you delete it or are on private settings.

Your digital footprint may not seem like anything now, but can really affect your future.

HOW CAN YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT AFFECT YOUR FUTURE?

Your digital footprint can affect your future, like if you want a job.

30-40% of employers & colleges now look up a persons social media before hiring/accepting them to see what they’re like. This may sound scary, but if you know how to have a good footprint it can help you. If you have a bad stuff online, it may affect your future in a bad way.

EXAMPLES OF HOW YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT CAN AFFECT YOU IN A

GOOD WAY

You do lots of volunteering, and you post photos or comments about the great thing you’re helping out with. A company you want to apply to might look you up and like that you’re volunteering, so they’ll want to hire you!

You don’t post anything inappropriate or irresponsible on your social media, which a company you apply to might look at and see that you are someone they would like to have work for them.

EXAMPLE OF HOW YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT CAN AFFECT YOU IN A BAD

WAY

You post pictures of you partying, drinking, and being irresponsible, which is not something the job you want wants to see.

You post comments about how much you hate school or some teacher or a person- not something a college wants to see when they look up your Twitter.

WAYS TO KEEP YOUR DIGITAL

FOOTPRINT SAFE & APPROPRIATE

ONLINE1. Have privacy settings on your social medias.

Even though nothing is really private online, it’s still good to have something blocking people from seeing everything.

2. Be aware about who follows your social medias. It’s a good idea to know the person before you let them follow you.

3. Don’t put any of your personal information online. Even if you think it’s safe, you don’t know who could get to it.

4. Keep your footprint positive- don’t put hurtful or negative things online.

Here’s a few tips to make sure you stay safe & appropriate

online:

THINK before you post something.

What would your future self think? Will this hurt anybody? What would your family think if they saw this? Will this affect my future?

MY OWN DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

I’ve talked about how to keep safe on the internet and other peoples possible footprints, but what about my own? If I google myself, nothing about me really comes up- which is good, because there’s

nothing that could affect me badly.

I have Instagram, but I’m on private so that I can control who’s following me (I only let people follow me if I actually know them). I also don’t have my last name anywhere on my page.

My digital footprint will always be growing, but I think right now there’s nothing of mine that could really affect me, so I think I have a pretty good footprint.

WHAT I LEARNED

What I learned about digital footprints is that you need to be very careful online, and really think before you post something because it could affect future opportunities.

IN THE END…

In the end, digital footprints and how to keep your own safe is something everyone should be aware of.

The internet hasn’t been around that long, but now people are starting to realize the real dangers of it. It may make the internet sound scary, but as long as your aware of what you’re doing you can keep safe.

By Gracyn K