Another topic that has been on my mind constantly since starting Coetail has been the concept of digital footprint and my online privacy. I have re-hashed this in my mind off and on since joining Facebook, but my eyes are wide open now and it doesn’t make me feel great about how far the technological revolution is taking us. Sometimes, all this information regarding how much of my life is available online makes me want to go “off the grid”. I do have a little log cabin in Montana which makes this entirely possible. But I wonder how long it would take solar power to charge up my Ipad.
This past week, I took a hard look at my Facebook page. After reading Kim Komando’s article about online reputation, I felt it was time to see what my own reputation might look like to a potential employer. As an international educator, my employment opportunities are quite large and options wide open. International schools use online resources even more than a standard public school, so I believe an analysis of my social media should not to be ignored. I would hate to have a chance at a premium school only to be overlooked due to a misunderstanding about something contained in an online photo. I imagine one would not even be able to defend themselves in this case. A potential employer sees a photo, deems it unflattering and moves on to the next candidate. Scary!
So I went to my Facebook privacy settings. Huh? Something has changed since I last looked at this. There are not as many ways to shut the public out from my page. When I looked at how others can see my timeline, I realized that everyone in the world can basically see everything on my page. They can see all my cover photos, as well as all my other photos. I went back and forth to find the setting that makes my timeline accessible to only friends. There is no button for this other than going back to each and every photo and delete from my timeline. I considered scrubbing my whole page and starting a new one. But in the end, took the painstaking measures to manually delete photos from my timeline. What a pain in the butt!! This whole thing makes me want to dump Facebook all together.
On the lighter side, I could not help but laugh when I read the article about Rick Santorum. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy. You see, I am pretty liberal and can’t believe the things he says. But it made me wonder about the legality of the webpage that was created in Mr. Rick’s honor. The site was created by someone that stand’s by gay rights. Mr. Santorum has equated homosexuality with beastiality etc. Its no wonder someone decided to create such a site in his honor.
So, I think I will go off of Facebook. I don’t like it that all my stuff has been made available for anyone to see and steal. And I don’t want any misunderstandings about my personal life. Thanks Coetails course! You continue to open my eyes and allow me to make educated decisions about my online activity.