I had previously Googled myself but never while being signed out of all accounts.\u00a0 I have always tried to keep a low digital profile and to that end I was satisfied with what I discovered in my search for myself today. Not much.\u00a0 The little that I did find was on the second or third search page in many cases.\u00a0 I found it interesting that the link to this blog was already present on a couple of web browsers (neither of them Google).<\/p>\n
I have always been careful about how I represent myself online.\u00a0 I have accomplished this by contributing little and making all accounts as private as possible.\u00a0I have practiced self-censorship in the past and still do in the present.\u00a0 Again, I have accomplished this by avoiding a comment in the first place rather than posting something which needs to be carefully crafted or later removed.\u00a0 It has been my practice so far to use my voice in person to advocate, demonstrate or persuade.\u00a0 As I stated in a previous post, important elements of communication stem from voice tone and body language.\u00a0 When trying to be understood fully, it has been my concern that to speak about something really important to a mass (social media) audience, I could risk having something lost in translation when limited completely to print.<\/p>\n
Another area of caution\/censorship is around my family.\u00a0 I may comment about “the boy” rather than using my son’s name.\u00a0 I am always aware of how I share and use information about my children on the internet.\u00a0 While it is great for grandparents to see birthday pictures on a private facebook page, it is not great for picture of my children to be accessible to anyone.\u00a0 Beyond safety, my children’s personal privacy rights must be considered.\u00a0 My daughter occasionally asks when we take a picture, “will that be posted?” We are learning that when it comes to our children, their life is theirs to share.<\/p>\n
I have begun to have my thinking challenged by this course.\u00a0 I am seeing the benefit of building an active, robust digital footprint.\u00a0 This more developed digital stance may provide a stronger personal security than trying to remain obscure.\u00a0 I like Kris Shaffer’s comments on this topic.\u00a0 I find myself agreeing with and internalizing the concept of deliberate digital identity.\u00a0 I like the idea that when people look for us on the internet they find our “best content<\/em><\/a>” and that as Chris Long states, it is found early and often<\/em><\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n
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