On February 12, I posted What do you know about your digital footprint? to overview one lesson for our community on establishing and maintaining a positive digital footprint.  I had the privilege of participating in the lesson several way and multiple times.  The results have been interesting and positive.

A note from a participant:

When I googled [my name], I didn’t find anything on Google images. On the web part of Google, I found a picture of me from [camp], my name associated with [school], and some information about some [sports] things that I do. When I was about to google [my name], I hoped to not find anything very personal, and I didn’t. I only found things associations with what I did. I was not surprised because I had googled [my name] before. I don’t have a problem with what I found about myself.

Another note to a facilitator from a participant:

From: [an advisee]

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012
To:  [an advisor]
Subject: [Thank you!!!!]
.

Thank you for what you did today because I actually found [a] picture that I did not like. I’m not the one who posted them; it was [someone else]. What do I do? Thank you again for a great day.

A note from a parent:

Thanks for the link.  Wanted to tell you that I googled my name and cell last night and was shocked with what I found.  I do Google my name regularly, but never accompanied by my cell number.  What I found was an “editgrid” that our [community] shuttle uses, complete with every child’s name, their sport/arts participation schedule, times of pick-ups/drop-offs, plus all drivers’ names and cell numbers.  Wow!  We use this grid when the seasonal sports change so we can easily update our child’s information for the shuttle chair to plan for drivers.  Never even thought about this not being a private spreadsheet.  I have emailed the owner of the grid to ask him to please privatize it and offered to help type in all of the emails to give them invitations to it.

Just wanted to say thanks for the reminder to add in cell phones!

A request from a participant

I really didn’t find anything on me. The only things that I found were my times from [sports]. I was hoping that there wouldn’t be a lot on me especially not pictures because I think that someone could find me if I there were pictures and a lot of information. I’m really glad that there wasn’t a lot of stuff about me on Google or any other sites. I think that it would be helpful to have a lesson on how to keep things from going on the internet and having things so public. I think that would really help benefit a lot of people.

One more note from a participant:

When I googled my name, I found a bunch of [sports] things. Things like the [events] I had been in, [sports] recruiting websites, and things I had said from today’s meet in [class] this year. I was surprised that it had things from my classes there.

I am okay with what is posted of me online. I am glad that I never got a buzz so pictures of me aren’t all over the web. I wish something interesting or cool that has been accomplished by me would be up there, instead of just things like [sports] and school.

It is too bad that you cannot read what our learners wrote in more detail.  Their thinking about what they strive to be known for is beautiful, elegant, and inspiring.

Part II in our digital citizenship series should be geared toward understanding privacy settings.  Our community members regularly use Google docs, blogs, and other social media.  Are they aware of their privacy settings, or do they just rely on the default settings?  It is important to understand, know, and confirm how public you have allowed your information to be shared.

Checking on your digital footprint – important.
Learning to be an advocate for yourself and others – priceless.

What do you know about your digital footprint?