My Digital Footprint

The concept of a digital footprint is nothing new to me, maybe the name, but not what it actually is. My father works in IT and therefore is quite tech-savy. This being said, I can remember having a computer that was deemed mine at the young age of five. My dad being the technical, but also extremely responsible, man he is wanted us to understand the responsibility of using the Internet, especially social media sites, at a very young age. I can remember him sitting me down and explaining that we needed to understand that anything we put out on social media or the Internet was out there forever and there is no getting it back even if it were to be deleted. 

The strong level of responsibility that was instilled in me at a young age continued as I chose the career that I did as a teacher. As a teacher we truly do live in a fishbowl that is under a microscope. Not only now do I have to look at the things I post from my perspective, but also I have to think about how the community of students, parents, administrators, or colleagues could also construe the things I post online.

I would say that I am the kind of person that does like to Google people and see what I can find. Therefore, I find it very interesting to Google myself and see what kind of a digital footprint I do leave behind. I would start by saying that my name is unique. What I mean by this is that when I Google “Kristin Castello” many things that pop up on the first page are me. Of the first few things that pop up one can see my Facebook page, my school website, my Twitter, and my wedding website. I have always kept my Facebook very private so the only things that could be seen there are any profile pictures or cover photos I have updated. The same can be found by my personal twitter since the only people that can see my tweets are my followers. The most information that could be seen about me is probably my wedding website, but it was also created with the understanding that it could be seen by the public. I feel that to this point in my life I have left a positive digital footprint and I will continue to do so. I also hope to leave more of one through the use of social media for networking that I am beginning to discover through this class!