Making my digital footprint

As I write this first post on my blog, Literacy 2.0, I think of the digital footprint and legacy I am creating. Yet, this is not the first time I have left my footprint in the digital world. In fact, if you Google "Christy Fennewald," you will find 20 personal results and over 24,000 others. Since "Christy Fennewald" is not a common name, I can assume that many of those connections are direct references to things I've posted or things that have referenced my name. This is your digital footprint. And, this is something every student should be asked to do--Google your name.

Unlike people in my parents' age bracket (50+), people under 40 have their lives on the Web. I cannot search my parents' teen years and find their daily thoughts and pictures. However, I can search my nieces and nephews' thoughts dating back to 2008. If I can search it, however, so can their future employers and schools. What they have posted is now available for everyone to see, forever. Therefore, it is now more important than ever to explain and teach digital etiquette--what is appropriate behavior and posting criteria on the Web? How powerful is your digital footprint? Does your footprint leave a legacy or a smudge on the Web? With the birth of Web 2.0, everyone has become an author and with that comes responsibility--the essence of digital literacy.

So, today, I ask you--what is your digital footprint you are leaving behind?

(From http://www.careerrocketeer.com/2011/07/is-your-digital-footprint-squashing-your-reputation.html)