Digital Tattoos--Blog #7
What?
When I saw the term Digital
Tattoo, I had something completely different in my mind. I thought the term
referred to actual tattoos that are digital. Nicole's explanation of
what is meant by digital tattoo made me stop and think. Did I put something
online that I regret? Will others find out something about me that I want to
keep private? How easy is it to find info about someone? Yikes!
Sites such as Nuwber, Truthfinder, Spokeo, and Pipl lists--AKA--teases you types of information about you, but there's a cost for a detailed report. Below are just a couple examples of what displays when I searched my name.
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| Nuwber Results |
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| Nuwber led me to Truthfinder. I blocked out my family member's names. |
I didn't like that others can search my name, pay for reports about me, and I won't be notified that someone is "stalking" me.
When I searched my name via Google search, I wasn't surprised by the search results. I use Google often and often forget to put myself as incognito and I think that happens, because I know by doing so, I'm still not invisible online.
Most of the search results revolved around my Facebook usage. I admit, I do like Facebook for a variety of reasons, from seeing photos of family members I don't see as often as I would like and to play games. I find playing games is a nice break from grading papers, it's like my own brain break. I'm also the admin for St. William School's Facebook page, thus, many of the images and slideshows via Youtube were also listed. What I did find surprising is that comments I posted on Facebook, also appeared in the search results. Other search results included: my classroom web page and this blog, and web page, Linkedin, G+, Twitter, White Pages,
just to name a few. I also looked at the images and there sure are a lot of
people out there with the same name as mine. The Linkedin search was
done out of curiosity because wanted to see what comes up when I searched
my name. I'm pleased with the display, because it looks professional and
viewers can clearly see that I'm an educator.
About Me is different that
I what I expected. I thought this would be yet another paid site that would
host too much info about me. This site claims that you are in control of what
your web presence is. After seeing all the sites that has info about me, not sure
how much control I would really have.
Social Mention--I'm not
mentioned anywhere, but after all the other places I found my name, I'm okay
with this.
Block Shopper--I wasn't
sure what this site was by the title, so I chose to check this one out. The
information about where I live is out of date and inaccurate. If I was buying a
home, I now know that this site is not
very reliable.
Now What?
Now that I know what a digital tattoo is, now what? Personally, I have always tried to watch what I post and comment about online, because understanding that what I post is there FOREVER is in the forefront of my mind. When I'm with friends who want to record a video or take photos, I usually ask not to be part of it. Not that I'm partaking in any inappropriate behavior, I don't find it necessary to broadcast that I'm having fun. My friends also know when I do agree to be in a photo, that I don't want it published without me knowing first. Sounds old fashioned or overprotective? Maybe, but it is my life and I do have the right to say no to something that I don't want published. If people want to post every meal they have ever eaten or every pose their pet made, that's fine, it's just not for me.
After investing this topic, I hope not to become paranoid with worry about what is posted about me, but I have a feeling that I will be even more conscious of what I post and comment on in the future. As an educator, I think that is why I treat the Internet this way. There have been several political, risque, and humorous posts that I've been tempted to comment on, but I bite my tongue or in clutch my mouse, then move on to something else. I've seen too many insensitive, horrible, and mean spirited responses that often follow another person's post, and I don't want any part of that. People hiding behind screens and verbally attacking others is something I avoid participating in. I certainly don't want any of the school families seeing that their teacher participates in that kind of online behavior.
A daughter of a friend was fired from a job she loved, because she chose to post comments about the prices of the products in a high-end store where she recommended customers go to another store. The photos she posted that were unflattering to her and to the store, didn't help much either. While at a get together, she was asked why she did that. Her reply was that she thought no one at work, since they were older, looked at Facebook. Ever since that happened, which was about seven years ago, I have been very aware of what I put out there.
This in turn, provided a great opportunity to teach my son about digital citizenship,who was just turning twenty at the time of incident, described above. Presently, my son uses digital citizenship practices. I share that experience of my friend's daughter with my sixth grade students at the start of the school year. I want them to understand why schools have students sign acceptable user policy's, AUP's, Just telling my kids without an example of why, can tempt our kids do exactly the opposite of what we wanted to teach them. I do believe that teaching our students about digital citizenship should be done in school and home. Since many parents might not be aware of the pros and cons of posting online and comment etiquette, education parents might need to be done too. Current parents might not have learned about using the Internet in school to begin with. Yes, computers in classrooms have been around for a number of years, but not all schools had such access. Even today, access to technology in schools is not equal. Maybe hosting a digital citizenship night for parents and then a different one for families, will help promote the idea of being responsible technology users.
Teaching digital citizenship can be done and should be done at an early age. A parent giving their phone to their child to keep them quiet in the store without teaching their child proper behavior, is like giving your teenager the car keys without knowing the laws and rules. Well maybe that's a little extreme, but I kept that in to paint a picture. There is plenty of material out there for educators and parents to use with children at various age levels. In many schools, teaching digital citizenship could easily be incorporated into computer classes. If teachers are using 1:1 devices or signing out devices with their students, taking a few minutes here and there to even sprinkle in digital citizenship practices can be done if there is a time crunch for a full or mini lesson. We as educators, should model digital citizenship, by citing images and sources we use during a lesson. If our kids don't see us using best practices, how can we expect our kids to take being responsible online seriously? If we verbally attack others for their thoughts online, what message does that send to our students and their parents?
When I talk to my kids about what you post on the Internet is there FOREVER, I show them a clip from one of my favorite movies, The Sandlot. Then during the school year, as my quick reminder when the students are using devices, I just say---Forever, Foooreveerr. Yes, the kids giggle, but it's an easy verbal cue to remind them about responsible technology users.
Here are some digital citizenship resources educators can use with their students.
I think it is great that you share your friends daughters story with your class. When I was in my undergraduate, they showed us a video from some news channel that interviewed a teacher or two that were fired because of their social media use. They were complaining about students! Something that I think any good professional would NEVER do! I agree that many of the parents of our students need to have some digital citizenship education s well. One of the problems is social media grows daily! We as educators need to keep up with the trends and continue to educate parents, students, and the community about proper social media usage/posting.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, that we need to keep with the every changing world of tech. As soon as we use the latest and greatest tool, another one is out there.
DeleteI too, was a little creeped out about the kind of information that was easily accessible to anyone who just goggled my name. I am of the same mind as you that parents need to have a digital citizenship education. Before this assignment I was not aware of the extent of information that was out there, and I am pretty sure that many of the parents of our students are not aware of how permanent it is no matter how private make my social media.
ReplyDeleteDoing a data mine on myself also made me feel uneasy, however, it is so important to do as we need to be aware of what is out there. We need to take control of what is available for people to see, and we can do that by making a conscious effort to display ourselves in a positive, productive, professional manner. I completely agree that students need to be taught at a young age about managing their digital tattoo.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Amy! Being an advocate for ourselves and knowing what is out there is less scary than, sitting back with blinders on and pretending the abundance of info isn't out there.
DeleteGreat resources! And I love the "forever" clip!!
ReplyDeleteThe "forever" clip and saying that word like that in class, is a fun way to remind my students of an important message.
DeleteGreat information, Karen. I loved how you walked us through each website and the information you found. I think it's interesting that most of us say we've googled our own name before, but with the list of websites Nicole provided, we were really able to dig deeper and truly see what was out there about ourselves. I think it's awesome that you've already opened this conversation with your son to better his understanding of what his digital tattoo will look like in a few years.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kara. I would hate for anyone to miss out on an opportunity, just because of one night of "fun" that got posted online or because of a comment that was posted in the heat of a moment. We all need to stop and think, before we hit Post.
DeleteThis was a great post, with some great resources. I absolutely agree that parents need to be educated on digital citizenship as well and the we, as educators, should model good digital behavior. There was just an incident at my daughter's high school this week. A senior posted a racially insensitive (I'm probably not doing the incident justice) photo to social media. Of course, the entire school has now seen it, and its been in the local newpaper. While the student apologized for his behavior, I would not be surprised if colleges were to turn him down because of it. We have to keep remind our kids, and students, every year that this is important and as you said - Forever!
ReplyDelete