Context
I was in middle school when Instagram became THE social media platform to be on. It was the first form of social media I had, I was 12. That’s the first time I remember being told not to link my full name to my accounts. I learned that I internalized this message in a way that my peers did not. None of my personal (active) social media accounts are discoverable by searching my first and last name, because that’s not my username. My professional web presences that are attached to my name do populate in a search.
Data Mining
Doing a data mine this week confirmed what I already suspected to be true about what you can find out about me on the internet using my first and last name. The websites I used to try and find information on myself were:
- Google (in both Safari and Chrome)
- Nuwber
- Spokeo
- Radaris
- Mylife
- Peek You
- Open the Books
Image Source: Author via Google 
Image Source: Author via Mylife
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| Image Source: Author via Peekyou |
The search that yielded the most accurate information, where you can learn the most about me, is Google. Searching my first and last name in quotations on Google will turn up my Linkedin, an old Facebook page, my teaching portfolio, this blog, professional documents from current and past jobs, and some mentions of me in high school sports. The first page of Google results on both Chrome and Safari, are truly results and documentation of me. After the first page, it’s more of a mixed bag. This was consistent with many of the searching websites I visited as well. Websites that pulled information like address, age, phone number, social media were largely inaccurate. While they all know the address that I grew up at, my age was wrong, my phone number was wrong, and my social media presence was wrong. Several of the websites linked me in relationship to people I’ve never met or heard of, sometimes because we had the same first name, similar-ish last names, or no common thread at all as far as I could tell. The website after Google that had the most accurate information was Open the Books which reflects one of my previous jobs working in a public school district and my salary. This is public information, regardless of which website you use to find it.
Reflection
All that’s to say, I feel pretty-ok about the information that is discoverable. I am an online person, I enjoy it, but I also value my privacy and do think about how I represent myself. I was weary about this assignment, I was worried I was going to find all of my business on display for everyone to see, that it was going to make me feel uneasy and powerless. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised to find the opposite was true, going beyond a general Google search to see what comes up about myself, and being able to fact-check it, and know what is and is not true made me feel better about my digital tattoo. A majority of what is discoverable and linked to my name on the internet is stuff that I have written or posted myself, mostly within a professional context. I feel ok about that. It would still be my preference to not have my first and last name online, but I feel ok about what comes up for it, if it has to be there.
Consideration
Clearly, whatever conversations happened in middle school for me in regards to internet safety did have an impact on me, as I’ve chosen to continue to abide by the conventions I was taught into adulthood. With that in mind, I do think it’s something we should be teaching the young people we interact with. In the previous school district I worked for, digital citizenship and internet safety was taught by the homeroom teacher for one week a trimester. We used a curriculum from Common Sense Media, teaching it as early as 2nd grade. As with all things, you modify the content to meet the audience, but if our kids are going to be online, and they are, then teaching them how to be safe and smart is no different than teaching them about real life choices and consequences, or stranger danger, in my opinion. In a similar vein, I think it’s a joint effort to teach it. It’s caregivers and it’s the school system. In the school setting, it could be the classroom teacher, but it could also be the librarian, tech teacher, STEAM teacher, or the health teacher. Being online is a fact of life at this point, so it’s important that we teach our kids how to do that in a safe way.
The unknown is always scary- that's why it's so important to have a grasp on what is publicly posted. I'm glad the results were what you thought they would be, Carly. Make it a habit to check once a year!
ReplyDeleteHi Carly,
ReplyDeleteI love how you mentioned that you were taught online safety. middle school, looking at all the blogs it seems that was when most of us were taught how to be safe online. As you mentioned you started teaching 2nd graders how to stay safe online. I was only taught what a digital footprint is once and that theme started to flow into other classes. Since our society has become a lot more dependent on technology should we teach children the safety of online use more often?
Hi Carly, I completely agree with Sara, I love that you were taught about online safety in middle school! With technology playing such a big role in our lives, especially for kids growing up today, it’s essential that they learn early on about online safety and their digital presence. It’s surprising to realize that a digital footprint can begin as early as six months old, like Katie pointed out in her blog. Developing awareness and taking ownership of our digital tattoos is so important, we should be the ones providing and controlling our own information. Students need to understand how to see what information about them exists online and recognize how other people’s posts can also shape their digital identity.
ReplyDeleteHi Carly! I don't even remember when Instagram became THE social media platform. That's smart that you were told not to link your full name to any accounts and that it stuck in your brain throughout the years. Right now, I have these two blogs and neither of them popped up when I did my Google search with my name in quotes. Interesting how everybody found different information on themselves. We came upon like search results with phone number, address and social media being incorrect. I agree with you that teaching digital citizenship and internet safety as early as 2nd grade is important since they are online and need to learn how to be smart and safe.
ReplyDeleteHi Carly, I had a similar experience when searching myself with information coming up that was somewhat correct but not totally correct. When I was searching myself a number from Portland, Oregon kept popping up and I thought it was so strange because I do not know anyone who lived or lives in Portland. I agree with your thoughts at the end, that if kids are online, they should be taught about their digital presence.
ReplyDelete