Having+vs.+Crafting+a+Digital+Footprint

= What's the difference between having and crafting your digital footprint? = = = = = ​
 * There is a big difference between having, and crafting, your digital footprint. Either way though, in today's world, whether we are conscious or unconscious of the impact our footprint has in the digital world, we are all digitally connected and in the system right from the beginning. We are recorded digitally when we use a credit card, medical records, e-mails, library cards, social security numbers, birthdate information, signing a W-2, etc.


 * Having a digital footrprint is a conscious act of creating programs like Facebook and Twitter. These programs are out there so people can purposely put aspects of their lives out on the web.


 * =====A person is born with a footprint that is created by others: medical records, parents e-mail about the child, and anything pertaining to the child that is out in cyber space which means that they "have" a print that they do not control. To craft a footprint is to create the content yourself. For instance, to crete a blog or make a credit card purchase.=====


 * Having a digital footprint is not a choice for anyone. Whether we want to or not we all have a digital footprint starting before birth. Before we are even born, we are inevitably in 'the system,' from the second we come out of the womb, until the rest of our life, even after we die. Our digital footprint it recorded with anything that digitally picks up our digital movements.


 * Crafting our own digital footprint, is by far, our choice. This is very different from having a digital footprint because once you have made the decision to craft your own digital footprint you are consciously making decisions that make each step through your digital journey. Our digital footprint is out of our control, unless we are consciously stamping our foot into the digital world.


 * Everyone has a digital footprint, but to craft your digital footprint involves careful use of the computer and constant monitoring to make sure all of your footprint information is acceptable not only to you, but to future employers, or others who may be searching for information on you, in regards to social networks, when we create our own profiles.

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