My Digital Footprint Word Art:
Why Internet Safety and Being Positive is Important:
Being safe online is important for many reasons. In my opinion the most important reason you should be positive and stay safe online is because employers check your digital footprint. Supported by the websites I used for my research, employers are more likely to not hire you or even fire you if you have posted or are tagged in posts that are: inapporpiate, involve substance abuse, and racial/hate posts and comments. Not only is being safe and positive online beneficial for you and your career, but it also is beneficial to others. Being kind towards others uplifts them and makes other people happy. If you post a mean comment or statement, whoever it is directed to will be upset. It will also hinder your chances to get a good job or just become a good digital citizen.
Examples of Unsafe and Negative Activities:
Some examples of unsafe activites are, inappropiate photos, drug use, and leaking confidential information. Posting inappropiate photos and photos of drug use are pretty self explanatory, however, leaking confidential information doesn’t always mean its related to your job. Obviously that would be bad, but I am talking about personal information. Things like your credit card number, social security number or bank passwords would make your life take a turn for the worse if they are leaked. Some examples of negative activities are posting hate comments like racism, sexism, and hate on the LGBTQ+. Hating on any or all of these groups would definetely be bad. As I said before, according to my research, doing any of these activities would make it very hard to find a job. You will most likely get banned on whatever platform you were doing this on. People can steal your identitiy or money if you aren’t careful online.
The Steps Everyone Can Take to be Positive and Stay Safe Online:
A good first step anyone can take to be safe and postitive online is to delete any inappropiate or rude comments that have been posted online – as well as photos. To stay safe you can put all your social media accounts on private, so nobody that you don’t want to see your content can access it. Another thing you can do to stay safe is to change all your passwords to strong ones, make sure they aren’t the same. You should make sure to never share your password or any important account details to anyone. Some steps to be positive online is to think before you type. Make sure what you are saying won’t hurt anyones feelings before you just click send. Just because something is anonymous or over the internet doesn’t mean it won’t effect anyone – including you!
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? Definition – Meaning – Examples. https://blog.reputationx.com/digital-footprint. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023.
What Is a Digital Footprint and Why Does It Matter? | Allstate Identity Protection. https:// www.allstateidentityprotection.com/content-hub/whats-a-digital-footprint-and-why-does-it-matter. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023.
Bank, Security National. Internet Safety Tips For Everyone Who Spends Time Online. https://www.snbsd.com/about/online-safety-guide. Accessed 26 Sept. 2023.
Personal/Social Competency Reflection:
My strengths as a digital citizen include… They contribute to my community through/because:
My strengths as a digital citizen are that I am safe online, and I try to connect to people to spread positivity in the community. I grew up in a very digitally-conservative household, where I was taught that having a private online life, and making sure not to post anything you’ll regret is very important. Being safe online protects not only myself, but my friends and their families in the community. I make sure not to post anything personal of anyone (including myself) because if I do then they could get harmed, stalked, cyberbullied, etc. I also try to spread positivity online by communicating with people who may not have many people to talk to. Whether it be texting, a phone call, or facetime, I try to connect with the people of our community.
I think my experiences as a digital citizen, such as… influenced my choice of course/hobbies/teams because:
I think my experiences as a digital citizen influenced my hobbies and therefore my career choice because of the content I have consumed online. It’s no secret that apps like tiktok have an algorithm that will feed you more of the same content that you like or talk/text about. Because of what videos I have liked and talked about, I have gotten more of them. This has influenced me to build websites as a hobby, and want to be an entrepreneur when I grow up.
Some of the ways I work to build and maintan online relationships are:
The main ways I maintain my online relationships is by planning ahead when to call people. For example, I have a friend who moved to England last year, and the only way I can communicate with him is virtually. England has an 8 hour time difference from Coquitlam, so planning when we can facetime and chat works really well. I am able to talk to him and keep him connected with the coquitlam community when he’s half way across the world. I do the same thing with people who live in coquitlam, and I make sure to call them to spread the positivity online. Another thing I do to maintain online relationships is I never text someone when I am mad or angry. Texting and talking in real life are very different things, and tone of voice can completely change the way someone interprets a sentence. Making sure you think before you type is very important when trying to build and maintain online relationships.