Digital Tattoos and Privacy Settings

Where it began

When I first created my social media accounts I was in middle school and high school. My parents followed my social media accounts (as a rule) and therefore, I was very cautious as to what I posted online. I was overly anxious as to what was put on the internet due to my strict upbringing. I remember un-tagging myself from posts and pictures on Facebook and Instagram in order to not get in trouble. Although I resented this parenting style at the time, I am thankful that nothing outrageous is online from my younger days on social media. Now as a teacher and veteran social media user, I am still aware of what I am posting online but I do recognize I am an independent adult. This week in order to better understand my digital tattoos I looked into the privacy setting on all of my social media accounts.

Privacy Settings

Upon logging into my Instagram account, I see my account is private, which it has been since I created it in high school. Upon digging into the settings further, I see there are numerous account settings that I do not utilize as an average Instagram user. I do not have any users who are blocked from commenting, viewing my live streams, or viewing my stories. Although I don't use those particular settings, I feel as though they are important for influential people or anyone who is receiving hateful feedback. One privacy setting I changed while is allowing only the people I follow to put me in a "group." I don't know why the setting was set for it to allow for anyone to add me in a group, but that is not something I am interested in. 

Next up, I looked into my Snapchat privacy settings. One setting I had previously changed in the past is the chatting settings. I used to get lots of spam messages that were inappropriate so I changed that setting so only my friends could chat me. Additionally, I have my location setting turned off. I remember when that feature originally became available I didn't want some of the random, old acquaintances having my location at all times. Upon searching through the settings I found an interesting file that describes how and why Snapchat collects our data through their app. They also made it easy for you to acquire your data in a file if you needed to for any reason. 

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Finally, I looked through my Facebook privacy settings. I have Facebook the longest of any of my social medias so there has be the oldest digital footprint on that application. I rarely post anything new on the application now but still use it as a contact list and reference when I need to. My Facebook settings are a mix of "only me", "friends", and "public". My contact information (phone number and email) are only viewable to me. My birthday, current city, and friends lists are viewable to my over 1000 friends. My hometown and education are viewable to the public. If I felt like I should be more private I would change those settings to only viewable to me but I feel as though that information can easily be found elsewhere on the internet. One setting I changed is recent apps and websites from other companies I've used Facebook to sign into. I didn't recognize three websites listed so I removed them all. I often press the "Sign in through Facebook" option when signing up for things. I wonder if that hinders my online privacy or makes me more at risk for any hackers? 

(Author's Image)

How do privacy settings and digital tattoos relate?

I think privacy settings and digital tattoos go together like peanut butter and jelly. I think the more strict privacy settings you have set on your social medias, the least amount of digital tattoos there will be of your online presence. I think there will always be a risk of social media companies and accounts being hacked, but there are precautions you can take. 

In the webcast I explored, I learned that babies will begin to have a web presence around 6 months old. This moral dilemma is something I have thought through and wrestled with for a while. Although I do not have a child of my own yet, I think I will make a new social media account with a limited amount of followers. By the time I have children, my Instagram account will have followers from over 15 years most likely. I don't necessarily want all of the acquaintances I have made over the years seeing the intimate details of my family life, especially when children can't consent to their online presence. If I was comfortable sharing them online, I would rather it be limited to actual friends and family only. Our society's children should have a say in what digital footprint is out there of them just as we have some control over that as well.