Creating a Positive and Safe Digital Footprint
Devices play a big role in our lives, whether you use them primarily for work, to talk with your friends for entertainment, or for school. We use them almost every day, especially teenagers and young adults. Teens tend to spend lots of time on their devices primarily on social media where they share their lives with others. While social media can be great for inspiration, creativity, and social relationships, it’s important that we are aware of the risks that come along with it. It’s important to note that whatever you post on your accounts should be appropriate. You have to be okay with the fact that whatever you are posting could potentially be out there forever where anyone can access it including your friends, family, and future employers. Take a second to think about what you are posting, ask yourself, will this post positively or negatively impact my reputation? Am I okay with employers or other people potentially gaining access to this post in the future? Am I okay with my friends and family seeing this? Does this post contain any sensitive messages or images? Is this post appropriate? If you decide that the post does not meet these expectations, it’s best not to post it. Another thing that is important for keeping your digital footprint clean is keeping your accounts private where only the people who you want to see your posts can see them. Make sure to be safe online and to keep your digital footprint clean.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ottnH427Fr8. Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.
Protecting Your Online Identity and Reputation (for Teens) – Nemours KidsHealth. https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/online-id.html. Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.
“What Is a Digital Footprint? And How to Protect It from Hackers.” Www.Kaspersky.Com, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-digital-footprint
Your Digital Footprint May Be Unflattering. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8C1a2z_cuQ. Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.
Personal and Social Competency Reflection
I think that my biggest strengths as a digital citizen are mostly displayed in school presentations and projects. I like to use online applications such as PowerPoint, Word, Sway, One Note, Clips, iMovie and others to display my knowledge in an appealing way. I am a very visual person and I love to be creative with the way I show my understanding of concepts. I find that online platforms are a great way to do that. Apps like PowerPoint and Sway provide the opportunity to add animations, video and audio to my work which makes it more fun for me to do. I’ve always loved having that option to create my projects online in a way that’s neat and organized.
I make ethical digital choices when using online platforms by promoting positive concepts and ideas. I like to use my online presence to support others and myself. I find that the most successful way to keep myself and my reputation safe is by thinking about what I am posting before I post it. I ensure my posts do not contain any personal information that I wouldn’t want to be accessed by the public. For example, I would never include things like passwords, addresses, phone numbers, my exact location, sensitive images, account numbers or financial information. Other things I avoid posting that can be harmful to myself or others include rude or inappropriate language, insulting terms and racist, sexist or homophobic comments . These are all examples of what I check for before I hit post.
My digital presence can have both positive and negative impacts on myself and others. Oversharing or using my accounts to bully, harass or hurt other people can reflect badly on my own reputation. I want my digital footprint to output positive messages and to shine a positive light on myself as a student. I make strong efforts to ensure that my digital footprint is clear of any negative aspects by taking a moment to think about what I am posting. Why am I posting it? Will it have a positive or negative impact? Who is going to see it? Will I be okay if someone gains access to this in the future? Does this represent an accurate image of who I am and what I stand for? If not, then I will adjust.