A digital footprint is a trace of data or information such as images, personal information or videos that you leave behind and that will exist forever on the internet for the public to access. This trace of information or data can come from any media platform such as social media e.g Instagram, Facebook or print media e.g. newspapers or magazines.
In the past I never questioned about ‘digital footprint’ however after research I strongly believe that my ‘digital footprint will really last a lifetime’ and can affect my future.
For example a research shows that “digital footprints left by internet and social media usage can potentially affect future careers or job prospects’ (Benson.,2015). Children of this generation are growing up around social media and use it as a way to communicate and socialise with others. However Children as well as adults don't realise how important it is to be careful with information and photos they post on their social media as once it's on the internet it stays there forever and can affect their everyday life.
Further even though major social media platforms have put specific conditions in order to protect their users' privacy for example ‘ Facebook, one attempts to take care of one’s privacy’ (Buitelaar., 2017) this is done by allowing them to have their accounts in private and selecting what information can be displayed for the public to see, that doesn't mean that we as users won't leave a digital footprint behind as it doesn't stop other people from using your photos e.g. through tagging in a post or through a profile picture. Therefore it is clear that through social media your digital footprint as well as mine will last a lifetime.
Moreover, in the past year we have all left a large amount of a digital footprint behind as a response to the COVID19 and the pandemic. Everyone in one way or another transferred from face to face interaction with peers, students and colleagues to an online interaction through digital technologies such as ZOOM or Microsoft teams. This allowed workers and students to communicate in various forms such as text, video or audio and continue their life while being trapped in a pandemic. But what we don't realise is how much information and data we have left behind. Every time a student, teacher or employee sends others email or initiate a video conference ‘these digital technologies record that action as meta‐data’ (Leonardi., Paul M., 2021).Now many people would wonder why they keep all this information/data as most of it is not important, well the answer to that is easy as it is cheaper and easier for people to store data, rather than permanently deleting it. Consequently having learnt more about my digital footprint and how it will last a lifetime I can now be more cautious with how i use my social media and the information i display for the public to access.
Therefore overall it can be said that ‘Digital footprints’ can really last a lifetime. Nevertheless this can be minimised by being more conservative with what information you present to the digital world.
picture by Wix website
REFERENCES
Benson, Vladlena, Saridakis, George, & Tennakoon, Hemamaali. (2015). Information disclosure of social media users. Information Technology & People (West Linn, Or.), 28(3), 426–441.https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-10-2014-023
Buitelaar, Hans. (2017). Post-mortem privacy and informational self-determination.
Ethics and Information Technology, 19(2), 129–142.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-017-9421-9
Leonardi, Paul M. (2021). COVID‐19 and the New Technologies of Organizing: Digital Exhaust, Digital Footprints, and Artificial Intelligence in the Wake of Remote Work. Journal of Management Studies, 58(1), 247–251. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12648