Digital Footprints

[Lauralynn Stefureak]

I must confess to not having a Facebook account. Yet. The excuse has always been to protect my privacy. Until yesterday and Jeff Utrecht’s presentation, where one phrase has been echoing in my head. “Take control of your digital footprint. If you don’t, someone else will.” That was a real jolt to my thinking. I had always thought that if I wasn’t “out there” in cyberspace, I was in control. So much for that. Jeff, thank you for the new perspective. And look for me on Facebook!

[Ahmed_Al-hashmi]

Well, you not alone me too I don't have a facebook but after I saw what we can do on it I think I will make One for myself. In my group i have a friend colled steve he use the face book too much and i askedhim why you do that and he said I have to use it too much to be allways with my friends. Than I relized the importance of having face book aCCOUNT.

[Hector Guzman]

I never thought about it that way, but I guess our "digital footprint" is probably just as important as our carbon footprint. I think in the years to come, life is gonna be driven more towards efficiency than anything else. Ning does a really cool job of linking people together using a Ning idea that follows you and the friends you have made from network to network.

This however kinds kills the creative spark that the Internet is known for. The everyday joe would be limited in how much they could share on the web without just copying someone else's original work. In retrospect I think the Internet in the future will become divided into resources that people will refer to when wanting to create new content.

For example:

Ning - For creating social networks YouTube - For sharing videos Photobucket for sharing pictures and hundreds more
The Internet has become so large that its hard to group all the different forms of multimedia that are out there. Little by little however I think we can reduce our digital foot print and introduce new ideas that enhance the user experience and are more efficient.

[Robyn Hardy]

HI Lauralynn

I also found Jeff's advise on Googling yourself regularly as part of controlling your digital footprint very interesting and not something I had thought of doing.

[Anne-Maree]

Hi Lauralynn, I'm a parent of a student who attended the conference in Qatar and I'm a little nervous about my children using facebook - I'm sure if used properly then it has a purpose. I'm also a little nervous that our young people won't be able to talk freely when they need to - as they do so much on the computer that they actually aren't required to hold a conversation. I also wasn't a 'skype' fan - but you couldn't keep me away from it while Emily was in Qatar - again used properly - it was great! I'm not sure you will see me on facebook anytime soon!

[Lauralynn Stefureak]

As an educator and a parent, the idea of a digital footprint for your school is intriguing. While searching for new positions last fall we spent a great deal of time on the internet, researching schools through their websites. What we found (and what we didn't find!) answered many questions before they were asked. It does make me wonder how many administrators / teachers / parents know what is "out there" about their schools. Like it or not, the internet is often the new "first impression"...try it. Do a search for your school!

Robyn Hardy said:

HI Lauralynn

I also found Jeff's advise on Googling yourself regularly as part of controlling your digital footprint very interesting and not something I had thought of doing.