Digital Tattoos: Data Analysis

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Digital Tattoos

Image Source: differencebetween.net

Digital tattoos, like body tattoos, are something that stick with us for a long time. They represent who we are as individuals, express our opinions, and sometimes inform others of our decisions.

Personally, I do not have any physical tattoos, but I do have digital tattoos because I post and engage with other individuals on a couple different social media platforms. The pictures I post, comments I leave, and the likes I give help the people that follow me get a better sense of who I am as an individual and a picture into my daily life.

It is nice to be able to share pictures and information with others I do not see on a regular basis, but there are some dangers that come along with our digital tattoos. Something that you posted years ago, may not be an accurate picture of who you are now. If you want to try and erase something completely from the internet or that platform, it can be difficult to do. This is why we have to be mindful of what we are sharing and posting. In the online article from Mamas Latinas, it touches on how what we share online can influence someone's opinion about us. That one snap or comment we make can cause people to perceive something we did not mean to intend. It also allows them to make judgements about us without even knowing who we are fully. If we are not careful, we may share something about ourselves we didn't want the world to know.

It is important that we educate our students on their internet presence. Many of them do not realize that what they are sharing on the internet stays behind and can have an influence on their future. Including digital citizenship lessons into our curriculum would be one way to get this information out to the students. Making them more aware can help them to create positive digital tattoos that are an accurate reflection of who they are as a person. 

Data Analysis

The social media platforms that I use most often are Facebook and Instagram. I enjoy using these sites because they allow me to interact with my friends and family who I do not get to see as often as I would like. Both Facebook and Instagram make it very easy for me to scroll and engage with what others are posting. The posts that I choose to make on these sites are positive. They provide my followers with a sense of who I am outside of my teaching career.

When looking at my feed on Facebook, I see that I do not do much of the posting. The majority of my feed is what my friends and family have tagged me in. Sometimes it is pictures and other times it is things related to teaching. The last thing I posted was back in October of 2021. It was a picture of my brother and I at a White Sox playoff game. The two posts prior to that were me at a Bears game. So, just looking at my feed, you would be able to tell that I am a Chicago sports fan, I am close with my family, and that I am a teacher. When it comes to my Instagram, I link the pictures I post on there to Facebook so the same images are shown on both platforms.

The posts that I choose to make on these platforms are positive. I like to share with people the things I am doing outside of work. I do not post about negative things or share my opinions with others on these platforms. This is because I do not want someone to take something the wrong way or perceive me to be someone that I am not. I believe that the posts that I am choosing to make reflect who I am as an individual and that I am not trying to fool my followers with the content I am posting.

From doing this analysis, I can see that I am not as active on social media as I thought I was. I engage with others by liking and commenting on posts, but I am reserved with what I share. I am more of a silent social media user. I do not mind being this way on Facebook and Instagram because it helps me protect my digital footprint.

Comments

  1. Jess DanielsApril 14, 2022 at 1:45 PM

    Hi Katherine! Thanks for your post. I also like to use Instagram to post and share with my friends. I agree that we need to educate our students on the dangers of leaving digital tattoos. I couldn't agree more with the sentiment that what we posted years ago might not be an accurate reflection of who we are today. I was SUCH a different person at 18 when I first got my Facebook. My "On This Day" often reminds me of how much oversharing and whining I did when I first joined. I would often share posts like, "I'm sick" and "I don't want to go to work today." Imagine if our employers were able to see each and everyone of these posts from back in the day. Thanks for your post and reflection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NMZumpanoApril 17, 2022 at 6:48 AM

    Isn't if funny how we can think one thing about our social media usage and presence but when we do an actual audit we find something different?! I'm glad you found the audit to be productive.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nataliya ZelenetskaApril 17, 2022 at 12:45 PM

    Katie,
    I always enjoy reading your posts) I agree with you that we need to have digital citizenship included in our curriculum. As it was mentioned in one of this week's article, young people's brain works different when compared to adults. Their decisions are based on their emotions and not rational thinking. It is especially important when it comes to posting something online or sharing. Our students must realize that once they send some comment or picture, it will be there, and some day it might be used against them. Our students need to know how to verify if the information is true or fake, they must be aware how to protect themselves, setting up the right privacy choices, especially considering the fact how many different social media platforms are now available!

    ReplyDelete

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