Tech Task 5 - Digital Footprints

Your digital footprint is essentially everything that there is about you in the connected world that is the internet. Social media is the best example of how we create these footprints and with the popularity of social media we are all creating our own digital footprints everyday, often without even realizing it. I found a TED talk about digital footprints, (which I have shared below). What I liked about this video was that idea that we contribute to other peoples digital footprints and other people contribute to ours. This is a bit of a scary thought but important to understand, and something that I would want to teach my students. It is very true on social media as people are often posting or sharing about other people, adding to their digital footprint. Where I would take this conversation with my students is to the topic of cyber bullying. I would want students to think about the things they post on social media could affect someone. Even the posts that are suppose to be funny and may seem harmless can be negative if it is not how the other person wants to be portrayed. I want my students to not only be aware of their own digital footprint but others as well.



Digital Dualism is an idea that the real world and the online world are two separate places. I do not agree with this idea and a lot of the reason is because of our digital footprints. Our online actions directly influence our everyday life in so many way. Which is why I would argue that the "real world" and the "online world" are very much combined and interconnected. With that being said I do think that people often act very differently in these two spaces. I think that I am different from most people, especially people my age. I am much more reserved online than I am in real life. I would say that I am an outgoing person bit I just do not have an interest in being outgoing and active on social media. This is not the case with some people though. There are many people that use social media as their platform to speak out. People who often wouldn't speak out in these same real world situations. To me this is exactly what is wrong with the online world. It seems to often be a place of negativity and hate; my reasoning is that people don't have that same compassion for the person on the other side of the screen as they would for someone face to face. Lets relate it back to cyber bullying, and the reality is these online insults and degrading comments can have the same negative effects as in the real world. I think educating our students about their own digital footprints and how they can positively influence others would have a big impact on creating better digital citizens.