For my Cyber sleuth post, I decided to look up my mom. She is a retired boomer, and I thought it would be interesting to look up someone who spent much of their adult life pre-internet.
Name: Linda (did searches for her maiden name and her married name)
Biographical Information: I found out that her location was in Regina, I found no pictures and could not find any age information

Personal: She was associated with various obituaries. I discovered that she has a spouse, one sister, and two children (I’m one of them!). She served as Secretary on the board of the Regina Road Runner’s club, was involved in a road biking group, and the Regina Speed Skating Association. Her profile picture on Instagram is of a prairie scene with an abandoned farmhouse, which leads me to believe she enjoys living on the prairies. I found out that she has been married for over 40 years

Where are they on the Web: Linda has a private instagram profile, and a fairly private Facebook profile that she shares with her husband. I could not find any job information or Linked In profiles.

Overall Impressions: My overall impression of Linda is that she has a full life offline and is not particularly active on social media or the internet.

Trustworthiness: It would be difficult to gauge trustworthiness simply by how little information there is to go by – but I would be inclined to trust her based on her activities with local associations and serving as a secretary on a board. If I required more confirmation, I would reach out to one of the groups she is associated with and inquire.

Political Beliefs: I could not find any information on Linda’s political beliefs.

Advice: I have no advice for Linda on her digital footprint. She has very private social media, and being retired, has no need for presenting herself a certain way. If she were still working, I might suggest she make a Linked In page to outline her professional skills and experiences.


My personal thoughts on digital identity are a bit mixed. I don’t believe anyone needs a digital footprint. I have had coworkers and bosses ask me about things I’ve posted online and I have always felt uncomfortable. I am quite careful about what I post and keep my social media private, but even then it always feels odd when I get friend requests from people I know in my professional life.
I also think about how companies look at digital footprints in their hiring process now. Decades ago, people didn’t know as much about each other and hired based on interviews and resumes. I still think that should be the case. No one needs to know what I do on the weekends, how I run my personal life, etc. That information has no bearing on my capacity as a professional.

In the article, Split Image (linked here), it discusses how social media pages are just edited versions of our lives.  People can make themselves look like anything they want on social media.  I would honestly be a bit suspicious of someone who posts frequently anywhere, because it seems inauthentic. No one is going to post that parts of their lives that aren’t great, or things that will make them look bad.

I watched Monica Lewinsky’s Ted Talk, and thought a lot about the mistakes we make as young people. Everyone makes mistakes all the time, from their youth until their old age. The difference now is that many mistakes are posted online and can never be erased. I think we need to have a bit of empathy for people. My personal thoughts are that there is a difference between what people purposefully put on the internet, versus what is put there without their permission. If I choose to post a racist or insensitive comment online, then I have chosen to open myself up to whatever feedback comes my way. Of course, there’s a long way to go when it comes to how people treat each other online. The same as when we publicly comment our thoughts and opinions in the classroom or at a dinner party, we open ourselves up to all kinds of criticism. It’s important to be aware of that and think before we speak or post. That being said, it’s also important to think about what we are posting about other people. You never know what is going to push someone over the edge. Lewinsky makes a powerful statement about young people on the internet, and how they are not equipped to handle the world of cyber-bullying and the internet. “Cruelty to others is nothing new, but online, technologically-enhanced shaming is amplified, uncontained, and permanently accessible.  The echo of embarrassment used to extend only as far as your family, village, school or community…. millions of people, often anonymously, can stab you with their words.”
In general, I think people should care less about what others are doing, but curiosity is in our human nature and it’s hard not to be interested in whatever scandals crops up in our algorithms these days.