Did you ever Google your name? If not, i strongly advise you to do it, every now and then. You might be surprised what you’ll find..for the better or worse;).
Of course, what Google reveals about you is just a small part of what i chose to call ”footprint” – even if some might call it identity, which – according to me – is a much broader and ambigous term. In connection to this, I thought David’s White visitor – resident approach (see e.g. Visitors and Residents – YouTube) was very useful especially for understanding what type of ”digital footprint” each of us has , in which context and, perhaps most importantly, how aware we are of it. Sure enough, there are a bunch of truly ”resident” people (a large chunk of which are nowadays called ”influencers”), who have even managed to built a career out of their digital footproint and activity.
But most of us, I believe, are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Personally, I am trying to leave as few traces online as possible, going as far as hiding my real name on social networks and having a lot of information hidden from public access. A reflection i had during the two weeks on this topic is, HOW is this choice seen by others – in particular future employers, but also my students.
Obviously, there is no straightfward answer to this.
On one hand, as a finance teacher, I can definetely associate lack of information – a.k.a. what we call information assymetry – with negatives. If i were truly proud of my Phd thesis , wouldn’t I want to have it linked to my LinkedIn profile? If i thought I was the best teacher ever, why wouldn’t i publish or post material about my lectures? It does seem that employers weight more and more heavily the information on certain social networks, such as Tweeter and LinkedIn, when hiring (here’s more about it: https://www.asalesguy.com/asset-of-the-future-why-your-online-presence-will-be-worth-more-than-your-home-update/).
On the other hand, social networks in particular, are not only a threat for our productivity and attention, but also for our (mental) health. It seems difficult to imagine life without a digital footprint, yet there are people with successfull carriers and a fully-functioning social life, who managed to keep their footprint to a minimum (such as, for example: https://www.ted.com/talks/cal_newport_why_you_should_quit_social_media). However, this situation describes someone who is , in a sense, even less than a ”visitor”, since they decide not to use at all social networks.
As a final note to self, I would like to be more aware of the consequences of my ”footprint”, and aim hopefully towards becoming more of a resident when it comes to tools / networks regarded as ”professional” such as LinkedIn. As a teacher, I do believe more transparency and information-sharing (as long as it is through the right channels) can only benefit my students and ultimately, my career.
When it comes to my personal life, though, i’d still prefer to keep it as private as possible, because I’m one of those who don’t like mixing the two worlds!
