Digital Footprint- Andy Walker

       A digital footprint is the image that you leave behind across cyberspace and begins when you are born and continues until after you pass. Whether it's on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or another different platform, the content that you display or leave behind contributes to your digital footprint. Your digital footprint can also be affected without your control if someone adds content of you such as pictures or posts on your behalf. So this begs the question: Do I want a digital footprint? My answer would certainly be yes! Having a positive digital footprint will help your professional image in todays technologically advanced society. That being said, it would be very important to make sure you do not have a "negative" digital footprint, as it would affect you in the wrong way. When making a post online, you must remember that what you say/post can be viewed by anyone in the world who has access to a computer.

(Richardson, 2013)

      The video "Youth and Media- A Digital Dossier" displays the creation of a digital footprint without you even knowing. The first step anyone should do when learning about their own digital footprint is to put yourself in the position of an employer. If an employer wanted to learn more about you, a quick Google search may often be more than enough. So give it a try, Google your name and see what comes up; you may be surprised. Although you may not be intentionally posting anything inappropriate, everyone interprets things differently. That is why it is important to use privacy settings so that your posts can be filtered and only seen by the right people. For example, if you have any pictures on Facebook where you might be displaying alcohol, it might be in your best interest to filter the privacy settings so that only you and your close friends can view that post.

When developing your digital footprint, it is important to know the meaning of the term "Netiquette". Netiquette is essentially the do's and don'ts of online communication. The first rule of netiquette is to "Remember the human". When you communicate online, all you see is a computer screen. However it is important to remember that behind every computer screen is an individual who is reading and viewing any post that you make. Therefore you must take this into consideration in order to ensure the content you post is not offensive.

Upon completing the secondary digital license exam, I realized that throughout this course, I am going to need to work on digital literacy and digital communication. Digital literacy relates to the teaching and learning of technology. With so many online platforms in todays society, it hard hard for me to have advanced knowledge on each one. Therefor I must work on developing my skills on all online platforms. Secondly, digital communication refers to the exchange of information online. I need to improve on this because I feel that it is very important to make sure all your content online is displayed in a professional manner.