Digital Tattoo
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Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine: Digital Tattoos
Yet, for teachers online life can be a huge resource, both for themselves and the families they serve. Building a professional online presence is almost a must, according to Sue Scheff, author of Shame Nation: The Global Epidemic of Online Hate. So don’t try scrubbing your digital tattoo. She “encourages you to think twice about erasing yourself from the Internet, as human-resource departments and college-admissions offices often use social media to review candidates,”according to journalist Joe McKinley. “If someone goes off-grid, this can be held against them. Companies will believe they either have an alias or maybe they aren’t that tech-savvy” (McKinley, 2021). (Continued below)
Watch this YouTube video about the important of checking your digital tattoo by clinking on the video or use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTg4NGiUOig&t=6s
So, how do teachers develop a meaningful online presence while also maintaining appropriate levels of privacy? Brynne Mattson,author of How to Build a Social Media Presence as a Teacher, says “If you plan to build your professional network using social media, it’s important to do so cautiously and with safety in mind.” Think before posting anything, he says, and ask yourself how it serves your purpose. Additionally, when building a professional online presence, consider others who may be affected. “Never post students’ photos or personal information without written parental consent, and be careful not to share sensitive personal or professional information via written content or images” (Mattson, 2019).
Where Are My Tattoos?
The majority of my life predates social media. So, I wasn’t expecting to find much. After using a variety of apps to search for myself, I confirmed my suspicion: I’m relatively tattoo free. However, there were a few things that surprised me. So, join me in my online exploration for my own digital presence.
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Google. I began with a simple Google search using my name and middle initial, which is a common user identity for my online life. What I found were some photos I took for a Facebook post of the Southside Renegades, a youth baseball program in the south suburbs. I’m friends with several of the parents and enjoyed taking photos for them. Also, I found articles I have written in the archives of Honor Flight Chicago, a not-for-profit organization that honors veterans of WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Over the span of two years, and before I embarked on my career change, I volunteered to write profiles of various veterans who were going to fly with Honor Flight to visit the war memorials in Washington, D.C.
After using a variety of combinations of my name, I found mentions of me about my time at The Beverly Review (which was not online during my tenure), as well as the Chicago Headline Club, the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. I was surprised that Google came up with nothing else. Switching to Microsoft’s Bing, I found those results as well as my LinkedIn account. After combining my name with a variety of social media sites, as well as organizations I have been associated with, I discovered that the Cook County Forest Preserve District posted one of my photos from Flickr by Creative Commons. The photo was taken at the Orland Grasslands. In addition, I found scans of my college newspaper, where I served as an editor.
Funny note: I did find out that Chicago’s Dunning neighborhood is named after a man also named Andrew Dunning.
Facebook: I found a few mentions of myself while searching Facebook. This is not surprising, considering my personal account is currently set to private, and I don’t post much, anyway.
Twitter: My search of Twitter yielded the most search results for me. This was the result of other users who commented on or retweeted my posts from my newly created, professional account. Many of the comments and reblogs came from my participation in a live #edchat.
Nuwber: Using the public database website, I was able to confirm my gender, birthdate, current address, marital status, and home phone number. It even identified my mother, one of 14 nieces and nephews, and three of my most recent addresses. There were some glaring errors: I have never lived in Fort Worth, Texas, and several roommates were nobody I know. It listed an incorrect cell phone number, and went 0 for 6 with email addresses. Also listed were some of my neighbors, but not those closest to my home.
Another funny note: Nuwber listed Amam Dunning as one of my aliases. I once used this name to enter a sweepstakes or use it for websites I don’t want to identify with.
MyLife: This public database search engine came up with many of the same results as Nuwber. In addition, it displayed me as a registered democrat. MyLife also listed the most correct family members. However, there were more inaccuracies: apparently I have a net worth over $100,000. Wish it were true! The site did give me a reputation score of 4.27. Apparently this is a good thing because the national average is 3.67.
Additional Resources
Consumer Reports: How to Use Facebook Privacy Settings
How to Delete 99 Percent of Your Digital Footprint
12 Ways to use social media for education
References
Mattson, B. (2019, April 25) How to Build a Social Media Presence as a Teacher. ACE It Together: Insights from ACE Students, Alumni and Faculty. https://bit.ly/3aydayV
McKinley, J. (2021, July 29) How to Delete 99 Percent of Your Digital Footprint. Reader's Digest. www.rd.com/list/how-to-delete-your-digital-footprint/
Hey Andy!
ReplyDeleteLet me start by saying that the youtube video you posted was a really good insight to data mining oneself, it was cool to watch especially the reactions of people who thought their stuff was set to private but they could actually still see it from a simple google search of their name. Its nice to see you had success with mylife, I actually did not continue once it asked me for my info. A lot of results for me were the same, address, phone number, one even had pervious jobs that was a little freaky but I'm glad to see you were able to find inaccuracies in the internet world, its kind of scary how someone can have access to such personal information with just your name at the tip of their fingers.
-Jillian
Doing a data mine does tend to scare many people into thinking "I'm going off the grid" but as you mentioned, this reactionary response isn't the right one. If we can learn to harness the internet for professional growth we not only set a great example for students, but can build ourselves professionally as well. Thanks for the additional resources.
ReplyDelete