Some answers cannot be found on google, you have to find them within yourself – Jatin Guliani

This is honestly the first time I’ve ever googled myself (that doesn’t sound PG), and do you know what I found? That the internet thinks I’m a pretty boring guy. And I am okay with that. That’s probably why Google and I aren’t close friends, because I am a pretty cool guy. At least my mom tells me I am.

I didn’t really find much at all. I found my Facebook page, which is pretty private but still portrays who I am to my friends and family. I discovered a Twitter and LinkedIn account that I had set up years ago and long forgotten — I should probably delete those, but I can’t remember the passwords if my life depended on it. I’m sure if someone with the knowledge and skill wanted to, they could scour the depths of the internet and find some dirt on me. As Constable Chris Gilbert said, “When you put something on the internet, it’s not coming off… it’s forever.”

After last week’s class presentation, I did a sweep of my Facebook and ‘untagged’ myself from a few pictures posted of me that I thought might not be deemed appropriate by a future employer or future students. Other than that, I think I’m a pretty upstanding digital citizen.

When my wife and I first met, she did a criminal record check on me — she had a few questionable relationships in the past — and was shocked by what she found. I had a rap-sheet 3 pages long. It included B&E’s, domestic disturbances, and domestic violence. She thought, “how could such a handsome and charming guy like the one I met, be this type of criminal?” (I might be embellishing her words.) Luckily, she found out that another Brandon Dreyer living in Eastern Canada carried the same name but not the same awesomeness she would later marry.

https://www.bubusboulevard.com/has-social-media-done-more-harm-than-good-part-1/

I can understand how monitoring one’s digital footprints can be an essential subject to teach our students as social networks are some of the most popular platforms that target kids and are made so easily accessible. I remember being a teenager (yes, even though I still act like on, it was a long time ago) and the lack of impulse control I had at that age. I didn’t have a smartphone in my pocket or a laptop like today’s generation. There is always a smartphone at your fingertips, a platform to post things on, and a social network to judge your ‘likes’ and popularity. It has to be hard for kids these days to not only control their own impulses but to monitor their peers as well. As future teachers, we have to make sure we’re there to support them. For me, that means I have to become more familiar with the resources to do that. I guess I have some googling to do.