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Digital footprint
How might your digital footprint affect your personal brand and future opportunities? Why is it important to be aware of one's digital footprint?
What one puts on the Internet leaves an imprint on their digital footprint. When revealing personal information, one is giving up a part of their privacy. Not only will having a safe digital footprint protect an individual's anonymity, but it will also benefit their future opportunities. Posting a picture on the Internet is similar to leaving a footprint in the sand. Regardless if it gets washed by the waves, covered up, or stepped on, it was once visible to the public eye.
According to The Career Builder, 63% of hiring managers decide not to hire an applicant because of something they found questionable on a social networking site.
(Hendrickson, J)
Displaying a poor digital footprint could cause one to lose many opportunities.
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When applying to an university or college, they often inspect the applicant's online image.
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Similarly, when seeking for a job, managers generally hire those with a positive and appropriate digital footprint.
Inappropriate posts that many universities and managers look for include:
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Drugs or Drinking
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Such as a drunk photo from a party or anything that implies negative actions.
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Immature or Unprofessional Screen Names
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This can include email address, social media usernames, etc.
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Criminal Behaviour
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Despite if it was in the past, posting about a crime will most likely present a detrimental reputation.
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Not only will posting inappropriate pictures assist in the loss of an opportunity, but it may also damage one's image. When posting something that isn't appropriate, it could be harmful to many others. Even if you are not the one who posted the picture, a friend can still put something you didn't want on the Internet. This adds to your online reputation which you may or may not even have control over. Having harmful posts could also break friendships. After discovering what is on your social media, a friend may not want to be associated with your actions.
Individuals should recognize what they are putting on the Internet as it leaves a trail behind of what they've done. We should be aware of how we are presenting ourselves online, and how our actions may be misinterpreted. Wrong actions could leave us with something difficult to clean-up as well as it damaging our future and personal profile.
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