Question of the Week: What does my "digital tattoo" say about me?
It's a pretty crazy time that we're living in. You might not even realize how much digital information about you is floating around in cyberspace...some of it accessible to you and others, and some of it hidden from you...but still out there. And while it is pretty cool how much we can do on the internet, many of the forums where we share information about ourselves aren't very well protected and consequently, the information, pictures and details of our lives end up as permanent parts of the public domain.
The important thing to be aware of in all of this, is how all of this sharing can come back to us positively or negatively. More and more employers, and even college admissions departments are looking at facebook pages and using google searches as means of background checking employees and students. And what are they finding out about us? Do we really want anyone to be able to find out our likes, interests and hobbies? Do you want a future employer knowing that you spent the weekend in the hospital with alcohol poisoning, or that you got arrested for fighting in the 7-11 parking lot? Do I want strangers able to find and comment on pictures of my daughter? Everything that we (or others) put online adds "ink" to our digital tattoo and allows others to make inferences about us. Unfortunately for us, it doesn't always even matter whether the inferences are correct or not.
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If you run a smart google search on yourself, what do you find, and what inferences can you make about your 'online persona'?
Do you have facebook? twitter? any other profiles on social media?
Are there comments, pictures etc. that you have posted that you don't really want just ANYONE to be able to see?
Is there anything Ellen could use to embarrass you on national TV?