Digitally Inclined

Your digital footprint can have very negative effects on your life. But on the contrary, it can have very positive effects on your life as well. A negative digital footprint could keep you from getting a job, or even ruin relationships with family and friends. You can take many steps to improve your digital footprint. These steps can include making an online resume, or even making a blog. But a digital footprint can still have a negative impact on you. Your digital footprint is what employers look at before they hire you to get a judge of your character, interests, work ethic, and whether you’d be a good fit for the job.

You can improve your digital footprint in many ways. A few ways you can improve your digital footprint include but are not limited to, making a blog, contributing on Facebook or any other social media, digital resumes, and even sharing videos on Youtube. All of these put your name out and make you more appealing to employers as they can see what you like and dislike. They can also see everything you value and your work ethic. It shows your creativity in the workplace and what you can offer to the company. According to user Jalger he says, “Maybe as teachers we need to show students how to create their own positive digital footprint and encourage them to do so”(Jalger). Digital footprint is often an underlooked topic in school. I believe that if everyone promotes a positive digital footprint, we could come very far as a society.

A negative digital footprint can affect your future as well. If you perpetuate negative things online, it can ruin your chance for getting a job. A negative digital footprint can consist of saying offensive things out in public, making people feel lesser of themselves online, and just making a scene on chatrooms and social media. In a world where anything you say can be recorded or is on record, we need to watch what we say before we post. And as user Jalger also said “I have been promoting the “think before you post” message”(Jalger). I think that if we as a Society takes this into account, and make steps to think before we post, we can make a positive impact on our digital footprints. If you think before you post, it can save you from a lot of trouble finding a job.

A positive digital footprint is key to making a name for yourself and furthering your career and life. If you take steps to document and take steps to make yourself known as a good person, you can blossom into someone that employers look into and reach out to for job offers. Always remember to think before you post and make sure you don’t post something that will negatively affect your digital footprint. If we all as a society take steps to improve our digital footprints, we can make the world a much better place to live in.

“digital footprint (right)” by John Curtis (Teacher Librarian) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.