Digital Footprint Exploration

Conducting a Vanity Search 

Have you ever heard the phrase the internet lasts forever? In our classrooms, we always tell our students to be careful about what they post online. As teachers, we also need to be aware of how we are perceived based on the digital footprints we leave behind.  One way to gauge the impact of your digital footprint is by conducting a vanity search. I decided to first conduct a test search using a generic name and then search for my own name.

Demo Search

To conduct a vanity search, simply enter your name in quotes in your favorite search browser and see what appears. So for example, if my name was Jane Smith, I would type "Jane Smith" into the search box. If your name is a common name, then you may have to weed through several thousand results or add additional filters like location in order to narrow your results. I did a quick search for Jane Smith using Google and I found almost 500,000 results. 

By adding an additional search parameter, I was able to narrow the results to just over 100,000. 

Types of Results

Within the results of my demo search, I found links to several social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Linked In and a plethora of photos and videos that go along with these sites. There were also links to educational history and news stories. By far, the vast majority of the results were for personally identifiable information and vital statistics. 

My Personal Vanity Search

I do have a fairly unique name, so I was not expecting to get anywhere near the amount of results as some people may discover. I've also been careful to use truncated versions of my name on the majority of my social media networks as well as using strict privacy settings in an effort to reduce my digital footprint. 

The Results

I was not surprised to discover that there were relatively few results for my name.  I had 225 hits under all results, 11 under images, and zero under both news and videos. In the images section, none of the images that appeared were actually pictures of me.

I also did a search for my two nicknames and I found even fewer results. The majority of the results that came from searching my nicknames were personally identifiable information lookup sites. 

From an outsider's point of view, it would appear that I don't use social media. Aside from the websites I utilize for class activities, I have a very minimal digital presence. Although I do have personal accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., they do not appear in a search since I have been very careful about privacy settings and the usage of my full name. From performing a search of my name, you'll discover that I am a teacher who uses technology in the classroom. You'll find that I was an honors student who helped lead student activities. Perhaps the most disturbing is the large number of results with lists of my family members, our ages, and locations. Finally, you will discover that I've started designing fabric as a hobby. A further breakdown of the images and page results is below: 

Images

• 1 Photo: Prezi Screenshot circa 2013
• 2 Photos: There were two photos of my childhood friend that were posted on a Go Fund Me for her funeral expenses last August. 
• 1 Photo: Tech Conference Logo 
• 3 Photos: Completely Unrelated
• 4 Photos: Four of the images were pictures of fellow staff members and students at my school from the previous school year.  At the time, I was assisting with updating our school website.  

Webpages

Pages Related to Work

• 3 Results: Teacher Rating--No ratings had been submitted.
• 17+ Result: Tech Conference Participants
• 1 Result: Work Website

Pages Related to Accounts Created for Class Demonstrations, Interactions, or Practice

• 7+ Results: Prezi
• 1 Result: Classroom Quizlet Page
• 1 Result: Teacher Edmodo Page--A picture of my cat appears as my profile picture.
• 3 Results: A PowToon I created and posted on Youtube in 2014. I was surprised to discovered someone had added it to their playlist of teaching videos.

Personal

• 1 Result: My friend's Go Fund Me page.
• 8+ Results: Personally Identifiable Information and Vital Statistics

College

• 2 Results: A story in the local newspaper from 2009 relating to the student newspaper I helped found. 
• 1 Result: A .pdf of the concert program from the Scandinavian choir tour I participated in at the end of 2002. Within the .pdf there is a picture of the choir, but we are not identified in order within in the picture. Although my picture appears, those who do not know me would not know that this is my picture. My name also appears within the program.  This program was uploaded to the website of my former choir director. I peeked around the site a bit more and I did find video recordings of three performances from early 2003. Although I am in these videos, none of the choral members are identified within them.
• 2 Results: A .pdf of an issue of the school newspaper.
• 1 Result: College Merit Pages 2011

eCommerce

• 18+ Results: Links to my eCommerce page on the SpoonFlower fabric design marketplace.

Completely Unrelated

• 41+ Results: Related to a person in Canada.

I believe conducting a vanity search would be a good exercise for students. It can show them how far their reach is online. It can also show them how privacy settings can go a long way toward keeping their content safe online. I have tons of pictures online, but with privacy settings they don't pop up everywhere.