Digital Footprints
It can often be hard to effectively support our children in this ‘Brave New World’ of constant connectedness and information access. Parents have had a very different experience to our children, growing up without a smart phone and much less internet usage. Whilst we live in the same world as them, we need to consider the pressures and responsibilities they experience on a daily basis. One of these is their Digital Footprint.
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash
A Digital Footprint is the complete history of interactions a person has when using the Internet. It becomes the public image of a person as it tells a story of their past and present. If you post a photo to Instagram, that becomes another part of your Digital Footprint. If you comment on a social media post, this is added to your ever increasing Digital Footprint. It seems innocent enough, but these individual items all add to one giant portfolio that represents you, and it is near impossible to delete them and guarantee they are gone forever. If a child makes a mistake and posts something inappropriate on social media, this mistake will last longer and be harder to leave behind compared to mistakes made in the real world.
Encourage your children to be mindful when using the internet. Tips such as:
- Use privacy settings
- Share only what is needed
- Be kind, helpful and understanding
- Delete old unused accounts
- Be confident in asking their friends to not post things about them without their permission
Remember that things posted online are like toothpaste. Once it's out, it's very hard to take it back.
Ben Robson - eLearning and Innovation Coordinator