Digital Tattoos Are More Than Just a Footprint

 The Long Lasting Impact of a Tattoo

Tattoos are permanent. We get tattoos for many different reasons, but they will always be there. Sometimes, we even regret our silly tattoos we decided to get when we were eighteen years old, but they will always be there. Just like a tattoo, our lives on the Internet and what we put out there for everyone to see will always be there.

My Tattoo

This week was an eye-opening experience for me. I decided to data mine myself and see what would happen if I did some research on myself using the Internet. What information was going to come up when I did? Well, it was definitely interesting and not what I was expecting. 

         

I first went to Google and typed in my name using quotations. I was pleasantly surprised that there were ONLY 777 results. You might be thinking, “777 results??? That’s insane!” Well, knowing that most people have over 1,000 results put my mind at ease. 

Image Source: Personal Screenshot

I decided to dive deeper into these 777 results and went into some websites to further my personal investigation. I noticed right away that my LinkedIn account was the very first website that appeared. I don’t even remember making a LinkedIn… ever, but sure enough, all of my information was there. This was a prime example of a tattoo. I created this LinkedIn account in college and it still exists! I completely forgot about it! I also noticed that my YouTube channel was listed as well. I only had a few videos posted from a Grad school class that I had previously taken. It was still interesting to see that anyone could subscribe and see those videos if they just look me up. As for images posted on the Internet, it was interesting to see that there were no pictures of me to be found. Rather, I did find lots of pictures of people that I know instead. I noticed that my school district’s website also appears. My name and my work email address appear on the district’s directory. This shows that anyone that searches me on the internet has access to my work email address and could contact me via work email if they wanted to. I saw that my grandpa’s obituary was connected to me as well. My grandpa passed away a year ago and I am listed as a granddaughter under his obituary. By showing everyone who is survived by him, now anyone who searches my name can see all of my family members and know who I am related to. 

This made me even more curious about my presence on the Internet. If someone wanted to find me, would they be able to? I immediately went to the website, Intelius. I typed my name in the search bar and anxiously waited as the website was searching everywhere for information about me. Sure enough, they were able to find some interesting information. 

Image Source: Personal Screenshot

First of all, they got my age right. I am 26! They also were able to identify six family members that are related to me. My sister is listed as well as my two parents. My grandpa is listed who recently passed away. I also noticed that my aunt and uncle are on the list as well. As for my location, they have Normal, IL listed. This is where I went to college. New Lenox is also listed because that is the town I originally grew up in for 22 years of my life. Darien is where I currently reside and that is listed on there as well, BUT it is not stated as my current address. It has me currently living in Knoxville, TN. This is funny to me because my parents moved there in 2021 after they retired. I am currently renting and saving up for my first home, so I am assuming that is why they have me living in Tennessee. I have no documentation of owning a house. Overall, it was very interesting to see. I was confused at first, but it all makes sense.

In Education

Ultimately, I think students should learn that they leave a “Digital Tattoo” online with their media presence. I think students should be taught this starting with the basics of internet safety at a young age, but more detailed once they are in middle school. As soon as students hit the age where they are creating social media, they should know that whatever they decide to post online is permanently with them for the rest of their lives.

Final Thoughts

Maybe you have heard of the phrase, “digital footprint”. Unfortunately, a footprint washes away in the sand or melts with the snow. A tattoo on the other hand, will be with you forever. Whatever we put on the Internet is out there for everyone to see and it is attached to you forever. Even if the website gets deleted, there are still ways to trace back to that website and find your information. Scary, right? Well, it shouldn’t be. As my professor explained to me, your digital presence is like having a credit score. You can’t buy a house or a car without one. You can turn your digital presence into a positive tool that can be used to help you find a career or build your reputation. You might think it is terrifying that all of your information is out there for people to see… but, if someone really wanted to find you, they would find a means of doing it anyway.