Digital Footprint

I discovered that a digital footprint does not only incldue everything on the internet about you, but also things such as sites you have bookmarked and visited.  I did not know that the your digital footprint does not just entail the sites that you use such as facebook and twitter, but also the people you interact with and the extent that those interactions are spread. 

The use of technology and social media is widely promoted in schools as well as the workplace.  For those reasons I think it is important to educate ourselves on why it is important so we will be able to maximize our footprint in a positive way.  For instance a positive easily accessable online presence can be used to showcase your skills and experiences.  Many potential employers will google you and try to find more information about you.  For this reason you may as well make yourself accessable but in a good way.  To do this you need to know your target audeience and make consistent contributions in order to build your identity and be recognizable.

 For teachers, professional networking is very beneficial.  You will be able to more effectively connect with other professionals if you have a strong online presence and a clear identity or 'brand'.  The most important piece of information I found about your online 'brand' was that it was more important to be yourself and not play a role.  Organic growth was emphasized. 

Students today typically have a large digital footprint without even realizing the implications.  For this reason I think it is important to not only educate ourselves about how to protect your footprint but also what your students need to be aware of.  For people in the professional field, seperating your personal and professional online profiles was recommended as well as enhancing your privacy settings.  For your students emphasizing not using inappropriate language or jokes online is important.  Something that I think everyone could be reminded of is that what others say about you online contributes to your footprint. 

When investigating my own digital footprint I came to the conclusion that my online 'brand' or identity largely revolved around my schooling.  Most of my new online presence and social media is becuase it was recommended for class to create things like a twitter account.  When I googled myself I found high school track records and high school academic achievement awards.  One interesting thing that came up was an article about Twisters Ice Cream Shoppe, which is where I work.  The article had nothing to do with me but I thought that even associations I am affiliated with came up.

~ Carissa