Creating a positive and safe digital footprint
Why is internet safety so important?
Employers are assessing their present workers based on their social media presence more frequently. Your manager or supervisor may be monitoring what you publish online. Unexpectedly, this can play a big role in whether or not you land the job. Nothing vanishes completely. You can now store your content on various social media platforms for future generations. Any old posts you thought had been erased are still accessible to someone with the correct tools and some free time. I’m confident there are countless celebrities who have sparked public outrage with tweets or posts they made years ago. An online “joke” that doesn’t fall on its target demographic may offend and upset a lot of people.
Examples of unsafe activities:
-choosing the same password for multiple sites/not making a secure password (dogs123)
-assuming any link is safe to click on
-Sharing to much information, whether it’s directed towards specific people, or posted online for everyone to view
-Only having public accounts (public accounts can be extremely useful for expanding a business or displaying a company, but this isn’t usually the case. If you are posting private information/things you do in your everyday life, consider going private).
Steps everyone can take to stay safe:
-set strong password and do not share these with anyone
-create different passwords for different sites
-don’t post anything you might regret later on
-don’t post anything you wouldn’t be comfortable with your boss/manager seeing
-consider making your accounts private, unless they are for work
-be careful who you chat with
-do not share personal information
Works cited
‘5 Ways to Keep Your Instagram Profile Safe’. Naked Security https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/06/22/5-ways-to-keep-your-instagram-profile-safe/.
Accessed 22 June. 2016.
‘10 Dangerous Things Users Still Do Online’. ZDNET
https://www.zdnet.com/article/10-dangerous-things-users-still-do-online/.
Accessed 21 Sept. 2022.
Citroën, Lida. ‘9 Reasons to Be Careful About What You Post Online’. Military.Com,
Accessed 26 august. 2021.
How To Protect Your Digital Footprint’. Morgan Stanley,
https://www.morganstanley.com/articles/digital-footprint-protection-strategies.
Accessed 25 Sept. 2022.
Personal/social competency reflection
I make digital ethical choices (consider commenting on others’ posts, thinking about what I put online, not sharing personal info) in order to stay safe.
I know that my digital footprint can have both positive and negative consequences, including…
| Positive consequences | Negative consequences |
| -Can help grow a business/market a product-If you create a positive image of who you are, your boss or manager may recognize that | -You may regret posting something and will have no way of getting rid of it forever-Can easily get hacked -Can be found by almost anyone |
…so I adjust my actions to ensure that I always stay safe online.