My Digital Footprint
Do I want to have a digital footprint?
Firstly, what is a digital footprint? I mean honestly, do I even want to leave my footprint in the digital world like I do when I’m at the beach. I enjoy it when I leave my footprint at the beach because they disappear every time the water comes up or as each wave washes over it to create space for other people to leave their footprint. But leaving my footprint in the digital world scares me sometimes.
Do you ever end up accidentally reading the wrong article or posting something that you know you shouldn’t have done? Those are the things that we don’t want to leave as our digital footprint as teachers, educators and someone to inspire the young. According to an article written in The Age newspaper, it is hard for people to teach younger people about the importance of maintaining a positive digital footprint. The only problem is that many young people do not think about what could happen in the future and thinking more about now. (Karena, 2015)
When thinking about younger people logging into Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and etc, it is just vastly different from other times. According to a survey done with the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 22% of teenagers will log in their favourite social media site more than 10 times a day and over 50% of teenagers will log in at least once. This is a startling amount of young people spending more time online compared to spending time going out with friends and talking face-to-face. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2011)
We want to leave a page full of inspiration and from the moment that they enter to the second that they leave, they will want to learn. They will want to be inspired by you and that’s the type of digital footprint that I want to leave.
Do I need to leave a digital footprint? Probably not, I’m going to be honest here. I probably don’t need to leave a digital footprint. Do I want to leave a digital footprint? Most definitely! I want kids to feel inspired, I want them to have fun and I want them to feel as though learning is the coolest thing they could ever do.
Leaving a digital footprint means that everyone understands who I am. I don’t need to leave a digital footprint, I want to leave one.
References:
Karena, C. (2015, February 16). Tread very carefully … You’re leaving digital footprints. Retrieved October 6, 2016, from Education, http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/tread-very-carefully--youre-leaving-digital-footprints-20150216-13g354.html
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011) Clinical Report — The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/127/4/800.full.pdf
