Our now easily accessible internet introduces a new world for many to discover. However, your actions can impact your personal life, even if what you did happened online. Technology is slowly improving, making it easier than ever to connect a username to a real person, allowing others to be held accountable for bad things they might have done. The term digital footprint, seemingly coined by PEW Research in late 2007, is used to describe one’s online presence that “often stick[s] around long after the tide has gone out.” Why are digital footprints useful, and how can they be used?
Digital footprints, though they may feel insignificant, can completely alter your life. When you are on a device, it is easy to hide behind the screen and feel as though your online life is disconnected from your in-person one. People tend to be meaner online as opposed to real life as they are virtually free to say whatever they want with little to no consequences. Despite all of this, however, it’s easier to dig up your past than you may think. There have been numerous incidents of internet personalities having their problematic pasts come to light by means of social media sites such as Twitter where post histories are completely public. Accessible to everyone, these sites make it easier than ever to dig up dirt on someone, and more often than not, someone out there has enough time on their hands to do it. People can easily send screenshots of your past to officials at schools or workplaces, possibly risking your livelihood to a certain extent.
In some cases, digital footprints can solve crime cases, as shown in the missing person's case and the murder of Mackenzie Lueck in mid-2019. After Lueck was reported missing, they found airport footage in which she was using her phone. They tracked her phone’s whereabouts which led them to a park where the phone was promptly turned off. Long story short, they found a man who visited the same location within minutes of Mackenzie. He was reported to have been burning something in his backyard, and upon further investigation, they found human tissue which was Mackenzie's body.
Another person, named Sheila Eddy, plead guilty to murdering her “best friend” with another friend of hers. Upon looking at their Twitter accounts, officials were able to find offputting tweets which helped them solve the case. They essentially created a public diary that eventually became key in locking them up. Aside from these depressing stories, these cases show how someone's digital footprint can be used to help solve crime cases, giving families and friends closure and finding the people at fault.
These two examples help show the importance that digital footprints have in the real world. Though on the surface they seem like something only in the digital world, they can help officials solve real-life crimes, and they can assist in other less significant problems too. Digital footprints are a great example of the benefits technology brought us, and they will prove to be even more useful for years to come.
- Sandy
This is a very interesting blog. Though the examples of crime-cases being solved using digital footprints are disturbing, it is so true that digital footprints are everywhere. Many people assume that simply closing their tab will close out their "online presence", when in reality it is very easy for someone else to find it.
ReplyDeleteI have been getting Tiktok's about digital footprint very often recently, which made reading this much more enticing for me. Even if the digital footprint isn't to solve a crime, it could prevent many opportunities such as jobs or school acceptances. Being aware of your digital footprint is such an important topic that many forget about when just using social media day to day. Overall this is well written and fun to read!
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting! I've only really hear about digital footprint from a strictly online perspective, like creators problematic pasts getting brought up, but i'd never heard about a digital footprint solving a crime. this was really well written and a super interesting and relevant topic!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy! I think this is a super interesting blogpost! It's scary to think about how everything you do on the internet has some sort of trace. I've had many conversations with this and it's hard because as you mention, there are some plus sides like tracking down criminals. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThe concept of digital footprint should be common sense, to think that someone can find records of the actions you did. However, I think many people forget or don't believe in this, and will end up doing something that could cost them a job or college. I really enjoyed the topic you decided to write this blog on, and you did an amazing job at describing what digital footprint is, with some examples. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog post. Digital footprints are important. Many people think they are safe to do things online because they are anonymous. In the end, however, they get caught, and their whole life is changed. This blog post was interesting and fun to read.
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting to think that unlike in the real world, where a footstep may be blown away or covered, every footprint is recorded and permanent. I reminds me of the scandal where TikTok was found to be copying every you typed (while you were typing). And not only TikTok whose stealing your information, just look at this video: https://youtu.be/pRSWdtoUAjo. And while that's not really relevant, it really just shows how you have to be careful on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog very interesting because I often don't even think that much about my digital footprint or any digital footprints in general. You brought up some good points and interesting evidence about what exactly someone's digital footprint can do in the real world.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is incredibly interesting. The penchant for being mean online because of anonymity is a problem that worries me, but you pointed out how this can negatively affect people's livelihoods, which makes me hope people will think twice before being unnecessarily mean. People tend to separate online interactions from in-person ones, so I also think digital footprints being used to solve crimes is really interesting and I hadn't heard of it before!
ReplyDeleteDigital footprints are there and can be almost impossible to scrub deleting something doesn't stop people from screen shotting or using an internet archive. I find its applications of it by the police interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe don't think about digital footprinting or digging out dirt on people or ourselves when we post on social media. I found your blog interesting since you mentioned how digital footprinting may negatively impact one's life but also how it can be utilized to solve crimes, which I thought was incredibly cool. I liked the points you raised in your blog. Nice job!
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