Digital Footprint

Digital Foot printing


With great power comes great responsibility. That statement made popular by the spider-man comics echoes everything I've come to learn about our digital footprints. I enjoy technology. I love that at any point in time at the tip of my fingers is the infinite possibility of learning and knowledge. This has allowed us to potentially become the most connected and informed society in the human history. That thought alone completely blows me away every time I think about it. I was sold on technology the very first time I witnessed three mobile phone techs installing a car phone into my father’s work truck and connected the ringer right to the horn. It was obnoxious and awesome ha-ha. No longer do songs stuck in your head go un named, or actors in a movie that you just saw go un identified. All of this however does come with great responsibility. Our connectedness has led to a social transformation led by social media's popularity. Who we are is no longer evident just by our physical actions, but by our digital actions as well. In the movie Gladiator, Maximus Decimus says " What we do in life, echoes an eternity". Think about that quote for a moment. Now think about that quote in the context of how digitally connected we are. What we do now, truly can echo an eternity or, however long our social profile exists, and everything that is attached to it. That is how I view our digital footprints. With the click of a button, the way we conduct ourselves online can be forever logged or recorded. This is not just reserved for when we know what proper netiquette is, but for any age or maturity level. One lapse in judgment now could stay with us for our entire digital citizenship.

What is netiquette? According to www.dictionary.com Netiquette is a noun that represents the social and moral code of all online interactions among users and social media behavior. It is a concept of appropriate social intelligence while using and communicating on the Internet. Netiquette can be likened to your table manners in an online environment. It focuses on respect, courtesy, and common misconception elements found while trying to communicate a message in cyberspace. Netiquette is appropriate in every online space from social media, e-mails, Twitter, blogs, forum post and beyond. The way we behave in the online environment echoes who we are as a person to those who are not in a physical location with us, but rather in a proxy setting online. Our netiquette directly relates to our digital footprint. A good netiquette and digital presence can lead to a positive digital footprint. It is a common misconception that your digital footprint is automatically bad. Actually, your digital footprint could be a catalyst for good. Instead of having an inappropriate Facebook page, what if your page was dedicated to the charity work you've done? That would send a positive message to any potential employer.

In an increasingly connected world, our online behavior reflects who we are, much like our personality traits affect who we are to those around us. In any environment, you leave an impression on those around you. In our professional lives, we seek to present ourselves with intelligence, competence, and leadership. We tailor our peer interaction to represent these traits in our everyday lives. At work, you treat co-workers with respect. You conduct yourself in a manner, which is both socially and professionally acceptable. You will approach each situation with the same question, how should I handle this situation in a manner where I maintain that I am intelligent, competent and a leader? Netiquette follows these same principals but in a different atmosphere. The importance of conducting yourself in a professional manner at all times in this environment cannot be overstated. What we do online could echo an eternity. It takes one poorly worded e-mail and the click of a button to change the perception of your intelligence, competence, and leadership qualities.

My own digital footprint has been a learning journey. Being part of the beginning stages of Facebook, no one was preaching or teaching the importance of your online profile. I am fortunate that during my college career my professional character was not drawn into question. That is not to say that I have come away unscathed from the digital paths we leave behind. Upon a recent Google search of myself a brand new photo emerged from a website called Peekyou.com. It is a photo of me sitting on a chair with my arms crossed and a miller light bottle tucked under my arm, I was twenty-two and it was taken eight years ago. I was always very careful never to post any such images to my own personal profile, but was ignorant to the fact that others could easily upload my photo to their page. That is exactly what happened. That photo was uploaded during a vacation I took with a friend. My friend then uploaded it to a photo sharing site called webshots. Webshots was one of the first photo sharing websites much as Flickr is now. I was shocked and hated the fact that the picture still exists and has existed since 2004. My first and last name is all it took for the picture to become forever present in every search of my name. I use that picture now to teach netiquette. I was more careful than most people my age because of my fathers over caring about the changing digital world. I am fortunate that he did instill that life lesson in me and still think to this day how much of a forward thinker he was. Now I make sure to have an online profile dedicated to the professional I am growing into.

This past Thursday I had a particularly restless night of sleep and it was one of those nights where you couldn't get comfortable, one leg out of the covers one leg in, flip your pillow a hundred times, aggravating nights. The type of night where your mind just flips through the pages of what you have to do and any other thought that might be in your subconscious. Then for some reason unknown to me I thought about the movie Jobs, which portrays the life of Apple's Steve Jobs. Then I started thinking about our digital footprints, and in a rush of a corny comparison I was left with the following thought. If you have read Steve Jobs biography or watched this movie, you'll notice that for a long time Mr. Jobs refused to wear shoes. He would walk barefoot all over his college campus, to class, and even when he was working at ATARI he would show up to work barefoot. At one point in time he was even reprimanded by his manager for his actions. So here I am, sleepless thinking about Steve Job's feet. Here is where it gets to be a little on the nose and corny, but still an A HA moment none the less. For the last couple of nights I've been writing  and reading about our digital footprint. It really struck me how Steve Jobs was walking around barefoot leaving his mark and his dream everywhere he stepped and in some literal occasions, where he stepped barefoot. Ironic that he would later produce the devices and software that has helped shape and start our own digital footprint revolution. Once I put two and two together and was proud of my own built irony, I slept great for what seemed to be about ten minutes and then my alarm went off ha. From Jobs beginning in the 70s to our use of most i-products, our digital footprint will be with us for a very long time, but it doesn't have to have a negative connotation surrounding it.