EDU 776: digital tattoos

My Data Dig

What is data mining and digital tattoos?
Every time we go on the internet or post something we are leaving behind a digital tattoo. This is something that many of us all need to be mindful about. What we say and put out on the internet never goes away...even if we delete it. This can have a negative effect if someone says something on the internet and it gets out. Even though they "delete" what they say it can be forever out on the web. Leaving a digital tattoo doesn't have to be bad though. It can be something that is meaningful and positive for people to see. When we leave a digital tattoo we can then go data mining to see what shows up on the interest about our digital history. Here is what my data mining showed me...

Picture of me:
I do have social media so I expected to find my pictures through a Google search. The first one on the left is my Pintrest profile picture and the picture to the right is my profile picture for my Goodreads account. The bottom left picture is for my Twitter account profile and the bottom right picture is my Instagram profile picture.

Photo credit: personal photo/screenshot
buddig89 on Pintrest

Photo credit: personal photo/screenshot
Ashley Buddig on Goodreads

Photo credit: personal photo/screenshot
@ashbuddig on Instagram

Photo credit: personal photo/screenshot

@ashbuddig on Instagram

What I Found:

While I continued to search myself I found that my last name did come up Budding, which honestly doesn't shock me one bit. My entire life people and even auto correct have tried to spell my last name with a N in it.
Also, immediately when first searching my name Carl Buddig and Company comes up. Since this is still family owned business it doesn't shock me that when I Google my name it comes up.
While searching, many of my family members; my mom, brother, aunt, uncle, and grandparents also showed up. On some sites like radaris you can see not only family, but neighbors and even family without the same last name. I thought that was shocking/creepy how the sites are able to connect people like that.
As for my age and gender everywhere I searched, Google, Spokeo, TruthFinder, and Peakyou all showed the same accurate information.

Address:

I have moved multiple times and the searches I have done through Google, Spokeo, Whitepages, Nuwber, and radars all show the addresses I have lived at. One thing that was confusing was on fastpeoplesearch it has my current address as the one when I lived in California and it doesn't have the address where I moved to this past October.

Job title:

On the Community Consolidated School District 181 website I am listed in the Walker School Staff menu.

I also found information on a job I used to work at out in California. When I lived in California back in 2013-2017 I worked as an office manager for a chiropractic office.

School:

On mysuburbanlife my name is in the 2008 graduating class of Hinsdale Central High School.

I also found on Western Illinois University website my 2012 college graduation.

Hobbies:

If someone searched me they could check out my Pintrest page and find out what my hobbies are. I have various boards, such as recipes, dream vacations, Disney tips and tricks, dogs, teaching, home decor, and crafts. These are all things that I am interested in and my hobbies. If they also check out my Goodreads account they will find the various books I have read and the books I want to read. They can see my reading interests and the particular genres I enjoy reading. Lastly, if someone where to look at my Instagram account they would find that some of my other hobbies are my dog, my family, and that I love to travel.

Photo credit: personal/screenshot

Is this a skill that should be taught to students? If so, how young and who is responsible?

Yes, this should be taught to students! Before the age of 2 children already have a digital foot print because of parents taking and posting photos of them. Also, in the video that you shared you said, "most children have 1,000 images of them posted online before their fifth birthday." To me that is a shocking number.

With all those images posted on the web I believe it is crucial to teach students about their digital tattoo. Jamie Knowles(a senior manager with the nonprofit Common Sense Education) states, "digital

citizenship lessons should start early, as children begin using internet-connected devices while toddlers, Knowles says. In elementary school, lessons can cover how students absorb media, and what opportunities the internet can provide, Knowles says. In middle school, topics such as online bullying and identifying trustworthy sources can be studied. By high school, students can debate concepts such as the role of social media in their lives and how much personal information corporations should be allowed to collect."

I believe that parents should be the ones to start off teaching their children about a digital footprint. Since they have already set their child up with a digital footprint they should be the ones to explain to their child that they have posted many pictures and by doing that when people search you those photo can still come up even if deleted. Parents are also the ones that should be deciding if their child has a social media page and a discussion about what you put out on the internet should be had. Lastly, once students enter school I believe it is the teachers and computer lab staff that should be teaching students even more about their digital tattoo and the pros and cons to having one.