We all know the feeling of putting our foot in our mouth. This is what makes us human. Another wonderful trait of being human is that we forget things. This trait really compliments the 'foot in the mouth' trait because it means that not every stupid thing we say will be remembered... Alright, I guess this is where I should talk about one of the most important characteristics of a computer. Computers are not human. For better or worse, they have a memory like a steel trap. A relationship between humans (with a knack for gnawing on feet) and a computer (who can remember everything from the exact size to the bunions on said foot) has the potential to be a recipe for disaster. So it seems the digital world needs to be handled with care. Us bumbling humans need to be aware of how we are representing ourselves to the world (wide web) because the world will not soon forget.
As I write this, I just received a post on my Facebook wall from friend back home. It said, "Melissa, this is without doubt the hottest video ever! :P :P :P" followed by a video of a woman clearly not dressed in her Sunday church clothes. When I clicked on the video, it took me to another page that wanted access to my FB friends. I quickly got out of this page before I sent this link to all of my friends. My friend clearly hit the wrong button and in turn forwarded this message and video on to others. The point is, what would I think of him based on that wall post and video if I didn't know him? What if I was an employer looking at him as a potential candidate? I'm sure my first impression wouldn't be that he is an amazing dad, a giving community member, and volunteers his time to kids with special needs (all of which is true). This is why being aware that we have a digital footprint and checking our footprint is important if we want to protect our online identity and make it a true representation of who we are.
Is the footprint one leaves behind going to have negative or positive consequences in the future? First impressions used to be more tactile, involving senses... smell, touch, sight, hearing. The possibility that a first impression is more of a research project, digging up information on someone using a simple google search is an increasing reality in our world. How will others view you? What values does your virtual representation imbue?
I believe as soon as kids start using computers (producing, contributing content online) we need to be responsible to teach them about this. There are a lot of ways you can start conversations about this with kids. I like this idea from Kidsmart for having beginning conversations. It's simply an outline of a foot and kids write down or draw pictures to represent all of the websites they have visited in the last 24 hours. They also write down any content that they added to the internet such as photos, blog posts, etc. This is a good way to introduce the concept for young kids. I think we need to have continuing conversations with kids about this for each stage of their digital lives, from emailing to blog posting to using FB and other social networking sites. It's a part of their world and knowing how to use it responsibly to ensure that they are represented for the people they are and the values that they hold are essential.
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