Blog Post 1: My Digital Footprint

Digital Footprints are something that essentially everyone has with the younger generation having a larger "footprint" than the older generations. Digital footprints pertain to your online path and the various media sources that can all be tracked back to you. If you look at everyone's footprint, you would see that it creates a different digital identity per person, allowing you to understand various things about them including their interests, thoughts, and even possible future actions.

With this being said, it should be expected that digital footprints can have both a positive or negative impact on someone's life. A positive digital footprint can be used as an example for people to find jobs online, find opportunities to volunteer, or even chat groups. By having specified chat groups, they can be used to help people struggling with a problem and get on the right track, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. I found that especially in this generation, youth have taken action via various types of media to fight for what they believe in. I found that this is commonly seen over Twitter with issues such as #BlackLivesMatter or with Facebook and the petitions that are commonly seen to stop Animal Abuse.

However, as I mentioned, negative digital footprints do exist and can be quite harmful to your future. It is imperative that you do not post anything on any media that you would not want your family or future employer to see. If you do need a place to vent, such as a blog, anonymity can be a good solution, however it does not guarantee that someone will not find it. Privacy settings are also important for media such as Facebook and Twitter because it allows you to control who views your profile.  Another preventative measure would be to not go onto sites or participate in things online that you know you should not. If you know that what you are looking at is wrong, then do not do it.

Virginia Shea (2011) discusses the term Netiquette and its importance on the web. Netiquette includes ten rules that everyone should follow while they are online to be polite, exactly like etiquette in reality. If a person were to follow all the rules, the chances of that person having a good digital footprint is very high. I especially think that Rule 10 - to be forgiving of other people's mistakes, is a rule that often is not followed and one of the most important as we are all human. That being said, I found that I do not always have perfect Netiquette and the rules reminded me of the importance of maintaining civility over the internet. I need to work on not fighting with others online, even if they are being rude because I am just giving them what they want.

Are there any rules that you need to brush up on yourself? You should take a look and ensure that you maintain a positive digital footprint too!