Digital Citizenship

Digital Foot printing

 It is important to make sure you are paying close attention to everything on the Internet, especially social media. What I mean by this is that any individual with access to the Internet anywhere on the globe can access your location. A digital footprint is a trail of personal information that is left on social media accounts, phones, text messages, and so much more. The most outrageous thing about this is that you do not even realize you have one established already. 

 All you have to do is simply type your name into the search engine on Google and see what comes up. There may be things that come up that you will be proud of to be up on the Internet, however for most people there are most things that people will not be proud of and ashamed that it is even easily accessible with a click of a button. It can be very scary because anyone can look you up, especially with geotagging. What I mean by this is that if you are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any form of social media; do not tag yourself in any location. This is an open invitation for invaders to not only hack your information, but to find out where you are. One application that can see when you are most active on social media and where you are when you took that certain picture is through a website called Ready or Not. Digital footprints are very important because it can help determine whether or not you will get any job intended. Every applicant for any potential job are being researched online everyday. It is important to keep your personal information safe and secure from strangers. One way for you to protect yourself online is through Google Alerts. If your name pops up on anything at any given time, this feature will alert you and keep you secure. As being our own individual, it is mainly important to think of yourself as a brand. Sell yourself in the workplace, keep your user names the same throughout your social content, and keep yourself protected!


Untangling the Web

The more we learn about things, the more we become aware of them.  For example, a website known as Symbaloo is a great way for educators to help students find important resources. It is interesting to find out how many different things you can use to make it easy and be able to share with others. In Untangling the Web, you can learn about how bookmarking plays a big role in the media. Diigo is a site that you can use to help store all of your bookmarks. You can set your account up so that you can share it with others and others can share bookmarks throughout the community, you can by default have highlights, notes, etc., set in private.  

Ways to Manage your Digital Footprint

Part of having social media, is being a responsible user. The reason for this is because if you or a friend of yours posts something inappropriate, it can follow you for the rest of your life. Stephanie Buck talks much in detail about how young adults in school should thoroughly go through their information that has been posted onto social media to help prevent any chances of you not getting a potential job. You never know what opportunities may arrive when you try to get a job or even an internship somewhere. The way our society works today is very scary, not only for adults but mainly young individuals. When you are young, you are too vulnerable to sensitive information. You do not know the risks of potential thieves and trouble you could get yourself in. Do not post personal information where others can find where you live or what you are doing in a specific area. 

Helpful tips on managing your digital footprint is to make sure you have your accounts cleaned, secure and private, and getting rid of accounts you no longer use or need. You may even want to keep records of your passwords in a safe and secure location. There are so many different accounts globally, that it is important to have a password keeper as stated by Justin Boyle. It is critical to make sure you are also paying attention to what specifically you are researching on the Internet Google browser. As Google is continuously advancing with its many features that can be highly beneficial, it also tracks every bit of information you have ever entered into it. Every single like, comment, post, or picture located on any social media is being recorded and documented. It is important to be cautious of everything you are doing as you never know who is constantly "watching you".

Today, the world has become a scary place to be a part of as far as social media is concerned because technology is constantly advancing throughout time and it is not how it was before or how it will be in the future. No matter what you do, you always want to think twice before you do something whether it's tweeting, commenting, posting, etc. As Joe Ross mentions, social media is an invitation for invaders to find that perfect opportunity to brake into your home when you are gone. If you go on a vacation and you are going in depth about when you are leaving or where you are going, this lets invaders premeditate their point of action. Overall, you always want to keep your valuable information to yourself. Only post information that you think would be absolutely necessary; ultimately to save yourself from the risks of identity thefts.

One individual who is very intelligent with building websites and gathering enough information for these websites is Cameron Brenchley. You can find more information about it him here. A great source to help finding potential employers/ job seekers are through a page called Linked-In. Other social media, as mentioned before, could be useful to help get a potential job or even learn about who is in your related field as Cameron has mentioned in a class presentation. Since he has been in the Office of Digital Stragedy of the White house, he took over on how to create these websites in his office. With everything on his mind he always had something exciting going on throughout any given day. The routines at his job changed everyday due to White House priorities. As technology works in a fast pace, he had to work in a face pace environment because there was so much going on. The greatest thing about it was that he gets to work with a various amount of individuals.
 Through google searching an aggregated list of professionals; can help you to find individuals in your related field of study who would be appropriate to follow or become friends with. Social media is there to keep your interests and knowing about the latest news in your profession.  It is not used for personal information. Cameron answered a question "What were the best options to utilizes names other than social media?", and said, "Never underestimate the power of a good email, providing useful information, and using them strategically on Twitter or Linked In." It is important to use these medias in a responsible and appropriate manner so that it may lead you to a bigger and better future. So please whatever you do, think twice and be careful before you submit and post anything online.