Digital Tattoo Post
Digital Tattoo
This week I explored how permanent your virtual life can be. As an elementary aged student, I had a few lessons during computer class about what a virtual footprint is and how whatever we look up, find, or post can be traced back to us and will leave a virtual footprint forever. This was very eye opening as a child because I had no idea! I think teaching students about virtual safety, especially with all this new technology students have access to, is a great idea! I believe that everyone, parents/families, teachers and counselors are responsible for teaching students about the importance of virtual privacy. We should start teaching our students/children now about virtual safety because they are being exposed to technology every day and at younger and younger ages.
Specifically, the term digital tattoo is a term I had not heard before. After watching the video titled Your online life, permanent as a tattoo by Juan Enriquez, I discovered that not only can your virtual footprint we traced back, it is permanent like a tattoo. I think this offers a more descriptive visual of how your internet searches, posts, and online presence can be seen and also how it can leave an impact on other people FOREVER. That is a very long time! Hopefully it will make people think twice about the content or material they are posting if years later people can still see it. Please see the video below if you want to watch the entire video.
Image source: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo by Juan Enriquez
Data Mine
To check my own digital tattoo, I looked myself up using the following websites and discovered the following information.
On Google, I looked up myself as "Emma Lewis". All the results were of different Emma Lewis's. I saw other Emma's Facebook posts, Twitter posts, a movie actress named Emma Lewis and all her movies, and an obituary.
On Twitter, I looked up my Twitter name Em Lewis and found my account I created for this class (@lewis_em96), a few other Twitter accounts with the name Em or Lewis in them, and found a few tweets with Lewis tagged in them (such as a soccer posts and posts with @em).
PeopleFinders
On PeopleFinders, I was able to find my name, current address, phone number, previous addresses, my immediate family, age and birthday. It then asked me to pay for the information so I could not verify it, however it did show a check mark meaning they had that information. Also, there were a few other Emma Lewis's that appeared but I was able to find myself.
YouTube
On YouTube, I was able to find many different accounts and videos associated with the name Emma Lewis. I do personally have a YouTube account but could not find it under my full name.
On LinkedIn, I was not able to find my account by just searching my name Emma Lewis. Many other accounts popped up with many different Emma Lewis's and their jobs.
Truthfinders
On Truthfinders, I could not find myself either. I typed in my name Emma Lewis, added my hometown, and my state IL but the most accurate person they could find was someone named Emma R. Lewis who was from Chicago and 91 years old. All the other results were not in my hometown or the nearby areas and had the wrong middle initial.
Illinois Teacher Salaries
On Illinois Teacher Salaries, when I typed up Emma Lewis as a person search, the only name that came up was Emmitt E Lewis who was a Pool Motor Truck Driver with a salary of $19,997 in the year 2018. No other names or information came up on this website.
Reflections
Overall, I was not surprised to learn that Emma Lewis is a very common name. Emma is a very common name and so is the last name Lewis. I actually knew another Emma Lewis growing up from my same hometown! During all the searches, it was hard finding information about myself because there were so many other Emma Lewis's that came up before me. When I added in nicknames or my hometown, the searches got a little more detailed but it was still hard to find myself.
Hi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you begin teaching your students at a young age about their digital footprint. I don't think any age is too young to start! I see it as highly beneficial. The sooner they are aware of their actions, the less likely they are to make choices they might regret later.
Since your name is very common, I was just wondering if you have ever been mistaken for another Emma Lewis? I wonder if you added your middle name in your searches if that would change any of your results?
Great to hear there were no surprises for you in your search. It's still a good idea to do periodic checks just to see what is out there (both by you AND others).
ReplyDeleteHi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI also have a pretty common name. I had the same issue as you. Every time I Googled myself or went to one of these websites, I got so many results that it was hard to sift through them all. The information that I did find about me was not very accurate. Truth Finder found some information about me, but got my middle initial wrong. I think it is important to teach students about this as well. I feel that students are using technology and the Internet even younger than my generation did, so it is important for them to know there is a lasting impact when you post. I looked up my teacher's salary too an it was super outdated. I wonder how often they update this public information?
-Kate S.
Hi Emma,
ReplyDeleteNice post! I really enjoyed the video you posted. I also agree that people really need to be careful about what they are putting out on social media and the web as it can be there permanently. On another note, unlike you, my name is not common. While conducting my data mine I only found a couple other "Joseph Waski's" out there. My last name is not that common, it was originally a much longer Polish name with many more consonants connected together. My last name was shorted when my ancestors immigrated here from Poland. When they were processed through Ellis Island they were greeted to this country by immigration officials changing our last name without consent. Yes, this is something that could happen back in the early 1900's!