Blog 6; Thing 4 Our Digital Footprint

This really is an interesting thing to work through thinking of the impact on me and those I work with. Quite hard work too - looking at my Google Account and history of activity made me change some settings because for example, I'm not sure I want tracking of everywhere I've been so advertisers can make suggestions or I have improved routes; after all how lost can I get in Scotland.

So this exercise left me with 3 things for me to think about

• I tend not to use social media  for the more obvious reasons like the need to exercise real care in a professional context but less evident is the imprint left by seemingly innocent activity. So there's a few 'other things' I need to follow up on.

• Young people definitely need workers who are alert to risk and can act in a 'mentoring' role. Young people do not always understand how in the digital world what they say on social media can have lasting consequences but there may be some remedies to limit potential damage

• Evidence of our activity is always out there and  we need to work with that reality rather than be put off by it. For example  I learnt quite a lot more about how we can exercise more control by altering settings

I found the 8 tips to Manage Digital Footprint  useful and can visualize workers using these in meetings and with young people because it's quite Positive - a kind of, 'Did you know that you can ....' whilst the video was a useful reminder of the unintended consequences of using social media as a place to sound off.
Working with young people means we as professionals have to know how to deal with 'prevention' and 'consequences' and this may involve helping someone know they may have to live with a heat of the moment post as well as how to manage their account. The issue surfaces in many different guises whether workers being unprofessional in their social time or young people having to live down sensitive moments or acting in a way that later makes them feel ashamed. All in all it really is a level playing field with the rich and important all capable of being caught out. New or experienced workers and young people can still be naive about privacy settings and how easy it is for messages to be tracked or reused by others. We all need to know how to challenge something we have gotten wrong or don't like.
At the same time social media is a tool for good for worker, managers, courts, or as the video demonstrates to hold others to account . Whether it is for bullying or skipping a day of work it is no longer possible to claim 'I did not do it' when the evidence is there.
Coincidentally, as I was reading this thing I also watched a TV program on new technology aimed at using 'face recognition app'  to scan in pictures of those who use the online world to trap vulnerable people into fake relationships with a view committing fraud with impressive results because the search program could scan for names to the likeness rather than the individual victim haplessly wading through search engines with a name that is probably false.

I have 2 usual names (Olive and Arens) and a long career so tend to be found easily in a Google search with few surprises about what comes up. Over the years I have learnt to take care with presentations though accept the inevitability that everything wont always be as intended. Pictures are cringe-worthy for me but more important is ensuring the where young people are accompanying us to an event that they and we fully understand and they consent to the possibility of how reporting including images might be used or misused in the future.
More worrying for me was going into my Google Account and checking history not because there was any obvious threat but there were one or two things I didn't recognize so I have arranged for an external check by my expert colleague  to make sure I fully understand what I am reading. On the plus side I have learnt more about Cookies and now less inclined just to click Yes automatically.

After working through the whole set of materials, where am I? Well..................

It's complicated and not everything is within our immediate grasp but the fail safe is having someone on tap to clarify or reassure. Essential for every small business I believe.

We can't help young people if we are not asking the right questions of ourselves.

We absolutely must be familiar with what digital imprint means and how to take charge 

I'm calling this my P list as a starter for discussion of  the HOW? of online activity with workers and young people

• Protect yourself
• Privacy at all costs
• Passwords are secret
• Posterity means forever
• Police your imprint
• Problems need sorted