Q: Why is internet safety and being positive important?
A: To answer this question, we first need to understand what digital footprint is. In simple terms, digital footprint, sometimes referred to as a “digital shadow,” or “electronic footprint,” is data that you leave behind when browsing the internet. Whether it be the websites you visit or the information you share online, digital footprint can be divided into two categories. The first one is an active digital footprint which is data that you intentionally give out through things like posts on social media. The second category is a passive digital footprint which is the opposite of an active digital footprint in which data is left unintentionally through means of unwanted cookies, location tracking, etc. This is why staying safe online is a big factor in the present and in the future since your actions can make a difference when it comes to things like job applications. Many factors go into why digital footprints and internet safety matter. Take cybersecurity for example. When companies and their digital footprint catch a hacker’s attention, ransomware attacks that hold their personal data can take place with threats to sell it on the dark web. Another example would be a person’s/company’s reputation online from the public content they post to the comments they receive. This can either impact them positively or negatively which equates to having a positive or negative digital footprint. The internet is a big place but by simply staying positive online, you won’t have to worry about your digital footprint negatively affecting you.
Q: What are examples of unsafe and negative activities?
A: When it comes to unsafe and negative activities, quite a few will come from social media. Things like oversharing information online can make it easy for cybercriminals to infiltrate your account and access important information like where you live or what school you go to. This is why you should never take pictures in front of the street you live in or share your any of your plans online. Another example also takes place on social media involving negative comments and remarks toward someone. See, doing this is a one-way trip to a negative digital footprint because anything you post online more or less stays there. When you go to a job interview and the manager mentions a nasty argument you had online how many years ago, it’s hard to explain yourself. Straying away from social media, visiting unsafe websites is another unsafe activity because any confidential information you share on there won’t be confidential anymore. Always look at the URL of the website and if it contains the letter “s” for secure in https:// as well as the padlock symbol beside it. This way you know you can trust the website when you put in personal info likes passwords, payment details, etc.
Q: What are steps everyone can take to be positive and to stay safe?
A: Many steps can be taken to stay safe online and to be positive to others. Creating a good and especially strong password is a good start because internet security is important. Preferably, you want a password consisting of 12 characters or more with variations in capital and lowercase letters and even numbers to increase strength. A good password is hard to crack but make sure you don’t use the same one over various platform. This is to avoid hackers from accessing multiple personal platforms of yours at once. Referring back to question two, avoiding harmful and unsafe websites is another way to stay safe on the internet. The URL’s you visit should always start with https:// and never http:// because the “s’ stands for secure. Nobody wants their personal information being sold on the dark web because the website they visited was unsecure. Last but definitely not least, checking your digital footprint is an excellent way to see what information you’re sharing online intentionally and unintentionally. Putting your first and last name and any variations of it into a search engine like Google can provide information of what others can see. Depending on what you see online, your digital footprint can encourage you to be more positive online to leave you in a positive light. If there are any negative results concerning you and your online reputation, contact the site administrator of that website to see if it is removeable. Out of the plethora of reasons I could state, I found these three of top priority and importance. I think it is important to maintain a positive digital footprint surrounding these three steps.
Works Cited
Security, Canadian Centre for Cyber. “Digital Footprint (ITSAP.00.133).” Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, 12 Jan. 2022, https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/digital-footprint-itsap00133.
What Is a Digital Footprint? | IBM. https://www.ibm.com/topics/digital-footprint. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.
“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.
Personal/Social Competency Reflection
I think my experiences as a digital citizen, such as making online friends, playing video games, and browsing the internet have influenced my choice of course/hobbies/teams because I’ve been exposed to electronics at such a young age. From my first iPad to my first desktop computer to my first phone, I’d like to think I have a lot of experience using the internet safely but realistically, it’s the opposite. I spent most of my time playing video games and I didn’t really care about what I searched online, nor did I really know what a digital footprint was. As for the influence it had on me, I think it’s safe to say that quite a few of my hobbies have arisen from using the internet every day. I remember watching a YouTube video on Volleyball back in elementary school and since volleyball season was just around the corner, I decided to try out the sport to see if I liked it. Fast forward to high school and I’m now on the junior team as a middle blocker. This shows that a passion early can come a long way if you invest enough time and effort into becoming proficient at it.
Some of the ways I work to build and maintain online relationships are talking regularly with the person and catching up if we haven’t talked in a while. And while online relationships don’t work the same as relationships in real life, it’s good to keep bonding over the same topic that got both of you into a friendship together and to continue to find things in common to expand it. Even then, always keep in mind that online relationships won’t last forever and that it’s completely normal to move on discontinue your relationship with them. Do remember though that digital footprint also plays a role in online relationships because the messages you send count as a data which means that it most likely stays on the internet forever even if deleted. If you end your online friendship with someone on a sour note, they can easily leak any messages that leave you in a bad light so make sure to keep that in mind.
I know that my digital footprint can have both positive and negative consequences, including the comments I post online, the messages I send to friends, etc., so I adjust my actions to avoid oversharing unwanted information online to keep a low profile. In general, I don’t prefer being well known for doing something whether it be good or bad, but I’d rather have a digital footprint that paints a positive picture of me online. If I do post online oversharing is the last thing I want to do because that would mean 5.3 billion people can see unwanted information like my last location or where I’m going for vacation.