Digital citizenship refers to using technology online to engage in society, politics, and government, how one chose to use the internet regularly and effectively. Digital footprint means what you leave behind after doing something digitally online when you search something, share something, what you did in the past. Once you put something on the internet, there are still tracks left behind even if you take it back or delete it. After you read this article, you should be able to understand the point that if something will be left forever, why do things that you want to clean up afterward? Cleaning up your digital footprint should be the same meaning as not doing something on the web.

Before posting something, think, is this going to harm anyone? Is this necessary? How are people going to feel? Is this dangerous? To harm anyone means to change another person in the bad. To be necessary means you have to, not wanting to. Keep in mind how others are going to feel after you post something, think in their perspective, and is it dangerous, for yourself, and to the public, because you posted this, and what you posted come from you, and if people can find you, whatever may happen are the consequences.

When people discuss something online, they don’t have to know each other, but once you talk about a certain name, mentioning a person, it changes the fact about sharing opinions because you would be judging that person. This connects to being necessary or not, replying, or not. If it’s not necessary to reply on a post or posting something, don’t. It’ll just create more possibility of trouble and it’ll be harder to handle after then.

When you show presence to the public, dangerous people might target you, hack on you. It’s based on the dangerous people’s opinion, they want you to be in trouble or not. The way to keep you 100% out of trouble is to not take a step, which means not to have any footprint, and you don’t have to erase anything because you didn’t do anything. But when it is necessary to take a step, such as schoolwork, family, friends, work, just refer back to the points for you to think before you post, think ahead for yourself, the consequences?

In fact, college/university applies for checking your digital presence, the way you use media and might change their way of letting you in. They will check your facebook, mail, Instagram, they can find these because you leave digital footprints behind, but if you show digital footprint in a good way that you care about others, you don’t have to be afraid.

Some articles I looked at are:

Online Guidelines for Student Blogging, Commenting, and Personal Safety