SOC 1010 Unit III Scholarly Activity: Exploring My Digital Footprint

Unit III Scholarly Activity: Exploring My Digital Footprint

SOC 1010, Introduction to Sociology

Columbia Southern University

Unit III Scholarly Activity: Exploring My Digital Footprint

Part A

Upon googling my name, I didn’t come up with any search results. I tried different ways such as using just my first and last name, using the shortened version that I prefer to go by, Dan Sims and there were only results for people with my same name or similar names. I then tried searching for first name, middle initial, and last name with similar results from before. Lastly, I tried searching for my full name first, middle, and last names, only one search result popped up under that search and it was in fact me. It was a website called voterrecords.com. There wasn’t much of my personal information on this site itself mostly the address I have used when registering to vote and my current age. I was actually surprised to only find the one site with my name during my searches. I try to keep a small digital footprint because I am a private person and care about what can be accessed by completing searches just like this one. The digital footprint is the trail of information we leave about ourselves on the Internet as well as the

information about us when our names and information are used and discussed by others on websites and in social media, (CSU, 2017). Your digital footprint can either enhance or detract from both personal and professional opportunities depending on the things you post, like, and or share. If your comments, posts, and shares are the opposite of potential employers or viewed in a negative light by them then that could affect your being hired. If you have friends that consistently disagree with your comments or posts then they could distance themselves from you. On the opposite spectrum if your views and comments increase your standing with a employee it could assist in the hiring process or at a minimum not affect it. The same goes for the personal side if your digital footprint is small or similar to friends then this could enhance or strengthen the relationship. Goffman’s idea that we must play roles as part of something larger in order to convey impressions on others, (Witt, 2016) can be applied to the way we use or digital footprint. Some people use their social media as a business page and portray an image of what they are trying to sell to someone else. Others use social media as an outlet of expression. Most social media sites that I use or have seen is full of these two types of approaches to social media. I do think that in most cases people try to display an image that is more positive than negative.

Part B

For this next part I will cover the statuses and groups that I belong to. The ascribed statuses I belong to are, male, white, and 33 years old. They do not have any effect on the way I have built my digital footprint. The achieved statuses that I belong to are E6 in the military, college student, and educator. These statuses do affect the way I shape my digital footprint. I do not have a very big digital footprint but do try to only use them for staying connected to friend, family, and co-workers, past and present. Three groups that I belong to are firstly a primary group which is my family, the next two are secondary groups. Firstly, a private military organization that fundraises and builds networking opportunities for its members named Maxwell 5/6 council. The second group is a social network or Facebook group for my Air Force career field, it keeps me updated on news and future changes. I use social media to maintain my status in all of these groups and make sure that comments and shares that I make are appropriate for what they represent to me.

Part C

I must first say that while I have Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts I am rarely active on them. This is partly due to the presentation of self that I want to portray and partly due to my private nature. I rarely post anything on any of these accounts, the twitter account I only use for updates on sports, the LinkedIn account was made years ago and I haven’t used it since I created it, the Facebook account is the one that gets the most use but again I rarely ever post or comment on anything because I don’t want a big digital footprint. I actually tried to google my Facebook account and was pleased when I could not find it. The statuses I present on these websites are obviously the ascribed statuses that I belong to which are, male, white, and 33 years old. I also present my achieved statuses that I belong to which are E6 in the military, college student, and educator. The groups that I am connected with are used through Facebook and they are the Maxwell 5/6 council and the Air Force career field group. I choose to present these roles, statuses and groups on my social media/digital footprint because I am proud of them and they do not disclose very much information about me. The way I manage my self-presentation on social networking sites influence do not have a great influence on my personal and professional opportunities. I am a very private person and do not like to share a lot of personal information on the internet and with social media. I will continue to try and maintain as small of a digital footprint as possible.