How To Be Successful: What You Need To Know About Your Digital Footprint

[Photo via @digitalfootprint]

Every now and then on Dusk & Rubies we post about how to be successful in life, Whether it be how to succeed at taking an online course, discussing wine or becoming a long distance runner we want to help you succeed at whatever goals you set for yourself. For me, learning and discovering new things is like breathing, not that it's easy or something that I do without thought, but rather something that is necessary in my life. 

I am currently enrolled in a fascinating and helpful course called Modern Communications: Technology Systems and I am learning and gaining the resources necessary to create a positive online presence. This week's lesson is about a topic that I feel everyone should be knowledgeable about. Why? Well because this week's lesson is about something everyone has but is invisible to the naked eye. It is something that can work for us and aid us in our careers, or it can work against us and cause us career devastation. Need to know what it is? Alright, alright, this week we are discussing our digital footprints. So what is a digital footprint? What does yours look like? And how can we make sure they're working for us?

What is your digital footprint? Watch this short, simple video to find out!

 Can't view video? Visit: HERE

Hey, young professionals what is your digital baggage? This 2 minute video, is humorous, entertaining, but shows us an important lesson about our Facebook activity and how it can be detrimental to our careers.

Can't view video? Visit: Here

The following short videos are part of the "Think Before You Post" campaign which targets young teens and high school students. Do you find them effective? Why or why not?

Questions to think about and our answers:

• Based on the content provided, what are your greatest concerns with your digital reputation?

Personally, I think the first step is to Google yourself and see what about you shows up. Some people want to have their name or brand name out there, while others prefer to keep a low profile. I try to be mindful with what I post, curate, photograph, and discuss on Dusk & Rubies. Even content that has been written by guest bloggers is considered and edited before posting. Dusk & Rubies is a brand that lends its voice to help empower others whether it is through fitness, health, wellness, fashion or tutorials, so our concern would be if anything was posted to the site that did not represent the brand or the brand voice. That goes for all of our social mediums (twitter, instagram and Facebook accounts). The "Think Before You Post" videos make a great point. Some information you may not have known? Even comments you leave on other websites, blogs, accounts, can be found. So everyone should be careful as to what they post personally and professionally.

• What precautions do you have to take to preserve your digital reputation?

I make sure that all posts, pictures, tweets and status updates are within the brands' purpose and voice. We are a positive, empowering and reputable blog, so we only post about places, people, opportunities and information that is reliable and well-founded through research. If we talk about a product, then it is because we have tried it. If we talk about a place to visit in our travel section, then it is because we have been there. We also follow the digital footprint checklist! Some other necessary precautions are passwords, having extra security and changing our passwords up every few months. We don't slander other sites, we don't post negatively

• As an educator or company your work for, are you held to the same ‘digital reputation’ standard as others?  Is the standard you are held to fair/unfair? Why?

In the realm of teaching Facebook and social media is frowned upon, but for the general public and social reasons it is pretty much necessary to have one. As a freelance writer and blogger it is good to have my name linked to the articles I have written. If a long list of published pieces comes up when I am Googled this will only aid my career. So the standards for a writer and a teacher are a little different. I still keep my personal Facebook private and actually don't have it under my real name as an extra security measure I took when I was a teacher so that students who knew my name could not try to friend me or message me via Facebook. For my business I created a Facebook page so clients, and potential clients could easily contact me, but yet again I did not have to reveal any of my personal Facebook information.

• Whose responsibility is it to teach our children/students to understand/preserve his or her digital footprint/reputation? Educators? Parents? Or is the responsibility on them?

I think this is a very important question, and one of the reasons why I chose to include this lesson on my blog. I think the responsibility should be shared among all three. When I was thinking about creating a blog I did a lot of research and planning. So, I took it upon myself to learn everything I needed to learn about preserving my reputation. But I think it would have been helpful if there was a class offered for students to take in school, or even at your local college. I know I would definitely have been interested. Part of the reason I started a blog is because of my love for writing. If you have parents like mine, who know nothing about the Internet, then it is hard to put the responsibility on them. But, I do think that it should be talked about in the household. So, I think to really help preserve his or her digital footprint it should be a combined effort and it is the responsibility of all three to at least start a dialogue.

• Have you or someone you know ever been negatively(or positively) affected by something found online?  Share if you'd like.

I am trying to think back to when I was in High School because a lot of people my age now, are young professionals, and very careful with their social media due to their jobs.

Do you have any further questions? Feel free to comment below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Stay Lovely,

D.R

Editor and Curator of

Dusk & Rubies