Digital Footprint: Reflections on the Trails We Leave Online

This past week in class, we discussed many topics revolving around cyber-shaming, digital footprints, and more. My mom had strict rules around technology in our household, specifically with social media, because she wanted to ensure I wouldn’t make any mistakes I would regret or get in trouble. I’m happy to say that all her talks about internet safety worked, and the only mistake I look back on now is making my first email, Flowerpower… to say the least, I had a new one made before getting a job. On the school side of learning about digital footprint, I started learning about it in my middle years in elementary, around grade six or seven. From there on, I found it was always mentioned, and I think it’s important to continue for future generations.

We were asked to Google ourselves during class, so I did just that outside of class to see what information I could find about myself online. Thankfully, besides my blog and my Nana’s obituary from well over a decade ago, I couldn’t find much information. This gave me a nice feeling because I have always been big on my digital footprint and conscious about what I post and how I present myself to others on the internet. Of course, when I first got social media, being a typical young teen, I shared some odd memes I’d find funny that make me cringe now when I see them, but I don’t have any posts that I regret by any means because I always had digital footprint reminders in the back of my mind. The main reason is that I didn’t want to embarrass myself or regret the choices I made as a young teen growing up now as an adult. 

Another thing we discussed in class was whether or not we should have the right to forget elements of our digital footprint. I think this could be beneficial because sometimes, especially as younger technology users, may make choices they later regret in life and wish they could hit the redo button and delete. I don’t want to say this would be a bad option because there are cases where someone having their digital footprint forgotten could benefit their safety and well-being. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to hear about cyberbullying and cyber-shaming occurring as it’s so “trendy,” especially on apps like TikTok. If we did have this law, it still wouldn’t be completely forgotten because there are ways to copy text or screenshots that could be reposted. However, I know some places have similar laws, such as Switzerland and their law, which is the right to be forgotten. Overall, I think it is important to educate children and adults on their digital footprint and how it will follow their online presence. Avoiding making risky decisions online could prevent many people from embarrassment and controversy in the future. To end, I wanted to share this video I stumbled upon on YouTube that I think goes well with this post.