The three websites I looked at were the Footprints in the Digital Age article for Educational Leadership, the Personal branding in the age of Google blog, and the personal site of Jessica Reingold. One of the first things that struck me about the latter site was the relative simplicity of it; it was primarily just a method of presenting her resume and portfolio. Because of the visually interesting way in which her website allows her to do it however, it is very distinctive and memorable. So, my first takeaway from her website would be that the digital world allows excellent presentation of very basic and rote information.
From the Footprints in the Digital Age article, I had two main takeaways. The first, not surprisingly given the article’s focus, was about how much the actions of kids on the Internet could later affect their digital footprint. I mostly just read the Internet when I was younger, and never really posted anything associated with my real name before college, so this doesn’t really apply to me too much directly; but with the ever-increasing amount of kids who are present on the Internet from a young age and using it for any variety of purposes, a considerable part of any individual’s digital footprint may have been made well before adulthood. This could certainly be problematic for anyone later on in life, depending on how they wish to present themselves on the Internet.
The second takeaway from that article for me, also not surprisingly, was about networking. Leaving a digital footprint from a very early point in your life has some potential pitfalls, but on the other hand, when well managed and guided, children can also find communities and other individuals who share their interests and hobbies and potentially aid them, both casually and even in a more professional capacity later on.
From Seth’s blog, I took away two rather simple lessons. The first being that simply put, Google can be a permanent record, and anything you do or say can end up there, including personal habits that may not look attractive to a potential employer. The second, more specific thing worth keeping in mind is that you should be careful what you say online about your ambitions as to your career, since a potential employer could easily see a disconnect or a lack of commitment between what you say and your application to that particular job.
