DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
Our digital footprint primarily concerns the way we present ourselves on the Internet.
There are many occasions when we ‘meet’ people online first, long before we actually talk to them in person. It’s likely if you set up an important meeting with someone professionally, that before you go and see them you will check them out online and they will do the same thing.
What’s then uncovered will be yours and their first ‘virtual’ impressions. Have a look online now, what comes up first if you Google your own name, what do you think, does it accurately represent who you are and your purpose in life?
We tend to mostly think about Social Media when it comes to online. It has proved to be an incredible way for anyone to communicate his or her message to the world with extreme ease of access. You can be an expert in the most obscure thing now and find yourself an audience and even fan base.
As much as the Internet can give, it can also take away, so beware of your online/digital reputation and the professional imprint it is leaving behind with people.
What many deemed as private information years ago is now readily public for the world to see. You could run a search on someone you met yesterday and within a few minutes very realistically, know their address, the names of their parents and children, where they went on holiday last year, when they are going this year, if they are in a relationship, if they have pets, what they like to do to socialise.
The list goes on doesn’t it, and it can be quite scary if you sit back and think about it. What impression will or could someone build of you with all this information to hand. Will it shape what they think of you or their future interactions with you?
Your online digital reputation can define how people perceive you without them even meeting you once or even having a conversation with you. Most of us have heard of cat phishing and the fact is that online personas or reputations can easily be incorrect or only partially true.
The fact is though, that based on these ‘reputations’ people will decide, whether they want to have a conversation with you, meet you, and even do business with you. It is so important that we are mindful of what we decide to make readily available to everyone online, because like it or not, we are saying, this is us.
