03/09/2022
My Relationship With Technology
Growing up in this incredible age of technology, I am constantly examining the role technology has in my life, and my relationship with it. For as long as I can remember, every technology class I have had has warned me about my Digital Footprint, which is the information you post online. It gets left online, forever, like a footprint in concrete. Personally, I find this concept terrifying, and I always have. The mere thought of all of the posts I have put online since 5th grade, will live on way after I am gone, makes me nauseous.
Despite this fact, I still engage and use many online platforms to connect with friends and share posts. One of my favorite apps ever is Instagram. I have had Instagram since the summer before 5th grade. Since then, I have posted anything from selfies, to photos of my dog and family, to photos of my friends and even videos of my running around my backyard. Many of my posts from my early days on the app have been deleted. Over the years I have witnessed Insta start as a casual app people used to post funny pictures, turn into a platform only used or likes and bragging rights. I have seen many of my friends get obsessed with the amount of likes or comments they get on a picture, but they are not the only ones. There are blogs, such as this one, which tell people how much engagement they should have per post. This constant comparison leads to depression and anxiety. Taking into account the digital footprint and mental strain that social media has on people, one would think that this might be a huge deterrent for those considering starting a social media account.
Your mental health may be at risk when you are using social media, but you digital footprint also grows at anytime you access the internet. Something I did not realize until recently is that we are all being tracked on the internet. I was fully aware that what you post does not go away, even if you delete it. But the fact that it is so easy for someone to hack into your email and use or sell your information is just as scary as leaving behind your posts. One way sites can track you is if you allow the site to use cookies. When you allow a website to access your cookies, it lets the website remember you and what you looked up on it. The use of cookies not only makes it easier for people to track you, it also makes your digital footprint grow.
After discovering these facts, I am definitely going to be more careful with what I post online. I want to decrease my digital footprint and keep my information safe from people who will use it. These facts really put into perspective the amount of information that is actually accessible online. Hopefully after reading up on these topics, it encourages you to take into consideration how much of your information you are actually putting out there. Stay safe on the internet!
