I spent Friday, April 1 in my hometown of Lima, Ohio. Kudos to Apollo Career Center for holidng their 1st Digital Citizenship Day. As part of the event, I spoke to 600 junior and senior high school students. My topic was Positive Digital Footprint. The media is full of digital danger stories. What students often do not hear is how social networking can benefit them. Topics I discussed and advice I doled out:
- Google yourself.
- Your digital footprint is a representation of you. It may be the only view of you someone has, particularly potential employers. Make sure that view is positive.
- If graduating this year, create a LinkedIn account.
- Use the Facebook privacy settings. Limit who has access to your profile.
- Even if you do limit access to your Facebook profile, know that we live in a digital world. Digital content can be easily forwarded and edited.
- Consider expanding your network on Facebook. Connecting to friends of parents, parents of friends, relatives and neighbors. They are the folks likely to recommend you for a job.
