Learning to be safe online is crucial as in today’s world, what you say or do online could and will follow you forever. Everything you do such as click on a link, post something or anything you say online becomes a part of your digital footprint. A digital footprint is the trail of information that you leave behind after using the internet. This information is gathered from the combination of everything that you do when online. Making your digital footprint represent yourself in a good way is crucial considering that most companies and colleges check your digital footprint. If you have a great resume, have accomplished many things, and are a great candidate for a job or to receive a scholarship you could lose your opportunity simply because of your digital footprint. You need to keep it clean because it will never go away.
The main way that you can impact your digital footprint poorly is by the way you use social media. If you are in any way using social media in a way that can negatively affect others that is a giant red flag to anyone that goes through your information. Even when you message someone privately you are still at risk of what you said being leaked for everyone to see.
Despite all of these daunting facts, there are still many things you can do to keep your digital footprint clean and not worry about bad information about yourself being leaked. The most important way to keep your digital footprint clean is to be careful of the things that you say on the internet. If you want to not worry about how you are seen online then make sure that you create a good image of yourself and do not share too much personal information if you do not have to. You can also check your digital footprint by searching your name on google and see what pops up. Look for things like your social media accounts or even pictures of yourself and personal information. To find this information about yourself try to use key words and more specific details. Secondly make sure that you do not have anything on your social media that you do not want there. Look through old things that you have posted and if you encounter anything that may seem worrying then do your best to delete it. Third look through your computer, phone, or other devices you have and check if there is any cites that are tracking you still from you accepting cookies. To make sure you aren’t being tracked by any of these websites delete the cookies from the device. Lastly see if any of your friends can find things that could put you into a negative light on their device such as a message you sent or a picture of you and see if you can get them to delete it so outside parties can’t use it against you.
Your digital footprint matters a lot and the importance of representing yourself well cannot be stressed enough. This is true because if you are not careful a lot of bad things can come from it such as losing many opportunities which is something that you will regret most likely for the rest of your life. Being safe online isn’t the easiest thing to do right now but at the same time it is not a hard task as there are many steps you can take to be safe online. With all of that said keep yourself and you digital footprint safe.
Personal/Social Competency Reflection
I myself am aware that my actions online have positive and negative side effects. The things that I text, post, comment on, click, and view all contribute to how I am seen online. To combat this I take extra awareness into what I post so that I’m not negatively affected by it. Many mistakes can be avoided by taking the extra minute to think if it is a good idea that will positively effect your digital footprint or, a bad one that will negatively effect it.
Some ways I work to build my online relationships are to look at it from an outside perspective is to see if it is healthy or not. If it is something that will make me upset or is an overall bad thing to be apart of then you must realize that the correct thing to do is to distance yourself from that bad situation. If you are apart of a really healthy and well formed online relationship then it is important to do what you can to strengthen this connection.
I think my experiences as a digital citizen, such as following a lot of sport related topics influenced my choice of continuing to do extra curricular activities. I believe this because when I see something online that is interesting and could be positive I will do my best to at least try it. This has led me to many positive experiences like meeting new people which is all because of the things I do on the internet.
Works Cited
McNally, Catherine. “How to Stay Safe Online.” Reviews.Org, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.reviews.org/internet-service/how-to-stay-safe-online/.
“What Is a Digital Footprint? And How to Protect It from Hackers.” Www.Kaspersky.Com, 8 Sept. 2023, https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-digital-footprint.