Weekly Assignment Questions

Based on the content provided, what are your greatest concerns with your digital reputation?
As a teacher, I find myself being very cautious of my digital footprint. I do not want my employers, colleagues, students, or parents to be given any other impression than a good one. I also do not want my personal information posted as it makes me feel very uncomfortable. I also think about my future children who will “grow up online.” Although I don’t do anything scandalous, I would never want them to see anything that may be embarrassing etc.

What precautions do you have to take to preserve your digital reputation? 
I set all my social media to private, use a more unique Facebook name, and watch what photos/videos I post. I also use the most restrictive settings when signing up for websites to protect my personal information.
 
As an educator or company your work for, are you held to the same ‘digital reputation’ standard as others?  Is the standard you are held to fair/unfair? Why? 
We are most definitely held to a different standard. We have to be extra cautious of how we present ourselves and share our personal information. I do feel it is a little unfair as we are human and don’t deserve to be judged when we are enjoying life or having a bad day. Sometimes you just want to post something to vent or post pictures of having a good time but you really have to think about how it will be perceived. I am not friends with any of my colleagues for this reason. I don’t like the idea of being judged by the people I have to see everyday.
 

Whose responsibility is it to teach our children/students to understand/preserve his or her digital footprint/reputation? Educators? Parents? Or is the responsibility on them?

 
I believe it is first and foremost on parents. Teachers are there to support students to make the right and safe decisions when being online etc. However, when the students go home they become someone’s children again and those parents should take responsibility for protecting their child and encourage proper netiquette. They should be monitoring content and talking to their child on the positive ways they can be perceived on the internet rather than the disgusting or negative images some put up for all to see. Selfies, rude comments, Cyber bullying, judging others content…it all leads to someone getting hurt. Parents should make it clear the expectations they have of their child when having the privilege of being online etc. Hopefully those lessons carry out as they grow older and help them to make safe adult choices as well.

Have you or someone you know ever been negatively(or positively) affected by something found online?  Share if you'd like.

 I have heard stories of new students teachers being penalized due to online presence. I would think they know better but apparently not, which is a shame. The only issue I had online was when I had a MySpace, which I guess I did not set to private and ran into a stalking issue I shared in an earlier discussion. I did not have anything inappropriate up and in fact, I had a picture of me and my boyfriend (now husband) as my profile picture. This person just did not get it and was delusional. Looking back I should have made all my settings private so there was no way for him to find me.