Making It Positive
Although there are a lot of negatives to having a digital footprint, there are ways to minimize these and use your digital footprint as a tool that will have a positive impact on your life, giving you Job opportunities, making friends and making the internet more suited to your personal needs. However, this guide is not for everyone, and all depends on your personal opinion. You may believe that some of these steps are unnecessary, or even morally wrong. This guide reflects one view on a positive digital footprint and therefore will not suit everybody. The most important advice that could be given is for you to make a decision of what a positive digital footprint is to you, and take steps to achieve that. Nevertheless, below is a guide to creating what I define as a positive digital footprint.
Google Yourself:
A good place to start if you want to make it positive is to 'Google yourself'. Simply typing your name into Google will let you see the most visible aspects of your digital footprint. This is what most people including friends and employers will see when they search for you and will often be their first impression. It is a good idea to go through this information and take down any potentially offensive material or accounts that you no longer use. Although things on the internet can never truly be deleted, it will be much harder to find and will be invisible for most people looking for information about you.
Monitor Yourself:
Go through each of your social media accounts. Are there any questionable or compromising photographs? What about posts that may include profanity or private information? It is a good idea to remove these things, or at least make them private so that strangers or potential employers cannot see them without your explicit permission. This includes things that you may have liked, shared, commented on or retweeted, which can all be seen by strangers and gives them an idea about the kind of personality you have. A good rule is to make a judgement based on what your grandparents would think. If they would disapprove of something you wrote, liked shared or commented on, just don't do it. This will hopefully stop any potentially offensive material from being associated with you. Another idea is to regularly check your Facebook 'Activity Log'. This lets you see everything you have done on the site recently, even some things that you may not have realized that you liked or contributed to. Make it clear to your friends that you don't want to be tagged in any questionable material.
Protect Yourself:
Even if you control your online persona as directed in the previous steps, there is still information online that is best if it stays private, like bank accounts and your location. Be careful by only giving away necessary information. Turn of the GPS on your devices unless you need it for a specific reason, keep your e-mail address and phone number private and do not give your address to a website without a specific reason. Before giving away your bank account details to an online store, Google the store and check whether it is trustworthy. To be extra careful, read their privacy policy to make sure they will not sell or reuse any of your personal information. Always make sure you are using a strong password with plenty of variation. Go to the website 'howsecureismypassword.net'. This website will give you an idea of the strength of your current passwords, as well as give you tips on making them even more secure. Lastly, download Antivirus Software from a safe source and make sure it is up-to-date. This should prevent spyware from illegally taking this information without your permission.
Promote Yourself:
The last step to having a positive digital footprint is to promote your positive aspects, like hobbies, professional skills or charity work. Although this can be potentially risky, it can do a great deal of good for your digital footprint. Promoting things that you are good at or like doing in an online environment can give people an idea about who you are, and make you seem like a friendly, approachable person. Promoting these things on social media, or creating a professional profile for yourself can, depending on your occupation, give you both positive online feedback, increasing your self esteem, and show that you a good, respectful person and can outweigh the negative side of your digital footprint. This can even grant you job opportunities and friendships that were not previously possible. As long as you are aware of and are actively preventing the risks, sites like Youtube, Linkedin, Deviantart and even instagram can become very beneficial for you digital footprint and in turn your life in general.
Remember that the internet is an ever-changing world that is full of risks, but also can be beneficial to you. As long as you are are aware of and are monitoring the risks, policing yourself, the internet can be a place that help you professionally, socially and personally.
Google Yourself:
A good place to start if you want to make it positive is to 'Google yourself'. Simply typing your name into Google will let you see the most visible aspects of your digital footprint. This is what most people including friends and employers will see when they search for you and will often be their first impression. It is a good idea to go through this information and take down any potentially offensive material or accounts that you no longer use. Although things on the internet can never truly be deleted, it will be much harder to find and will be invisible for most people looking for information about you.
Monitor Yourself:
Go through each of your social media accounts. Are there any questionable or compromising photographs? What about posts that may include profanity or private information? It is a good idea to remove these things, or at least make them private so that strangers or potential employers cannot see them without your explicit permission. This includes things that you may have liked, shared, commented on or retweeted, which can all be seen by strangers and gives them an idea about the kind of personality you have. A good rule is to make a judgement based on what your grandparents would think. If they would disapprove of something you wrote, liked shared or commented on, just don't do it. This will hopefully stop any potentially offensive material from being associated with you. Another idea is to regularly check your Facebook 'Activity Log'. This lets you see everything you have done on the site recently, even some things that you may not have realized that you liked or contributed to. Make it clear to your friends that you don't want to be tagged in any questionable material.
Protect Yourself:
Even if you control your online persona as directed in the previous steps, there is still information online that is best if it stays private, like bank accounts and your location. Be careful by only giving away necessary information. Turn of the GPS on your devices unless you need it for a specific reason, keep your e-mail address and phone number private and do not give your address to a website without a specific reason. Before giving away your bank account details to an online store, Google the store and check whether it is trustworthy. To be extra careful, read their privacy policy to make sure they will not sell or reuse any of your personal information. Always make sure you are using a strong password with plenty of variation. Go to the website 'howsecureismypassword.net'. This website will give you an idea of the strength of your current passwords, as well as give you tips on making them even more secure. Lastly, download Antivirus Software from a safe source and make sure it is up-to-date. This should prevent spyware from illegally taking this information without your permission.
Promote Yourself:
The last step to having a positive digital footprint is to promote your positive aspects, like hobbies, professional skills or charity work. Although this can be potentially risky, it can do a great deal of good for your digital footprint. Promoting things that you are good at or like doing in an online environment can give people an idea about who you are, and make you seem like a friendly, approachable person. Promoting these things on social media, or creating a professional profile for yourself can, depending on your occupation, give you both positive online feedback, increasing your self esteem, and show that you a good, respectful person and can outweigh the negative side of your digital footprint. This can even grant you job opportunities and friendships that were not previously possible. As long as you are aware of and are actively preventing the risks, sites like Youtube, Linkedin, Deviantart and even instagram can become very beneficial for you digital footprint and in turn your life in general.
Remember that the internet is an ever-changing world that is full of risks, but also can be beneficial to you. As long as you are are aware of and are monitoring the risks, policing yourself, the internet can be a place that help you professionally, socially and personally.