Final Blog Post: My relationship with technology

 

My Online Presence

My Overall Relationship with Technology:

Often we think of our online presence in a negative way and something that can only harm us in the future or prevent us from getting that dream job. I think of my overall relationship with technology as something positive and something that helps me build who I am as a person. I use technology for an appropriate amount of time because now I use it to leveral my personal brand and for professional purposes in order to be the most successful. Technology and social media now has become a place to take a political stance but I try and stray away from such posts when I can. As information is out there both reliable and unreliable, I believe that I am competent enough to know what is good and what is bad information. This is something that I have accepted as an individual and is something I know we have accepted as a society. 

My Friends and Family and Technology:

This topic is something that definitely is an issue for us all because we all have that one friend or family member that posts obvious fake information or bizarre posts. I know for me this isn't necessarily my family that does so but more friends and people from my past. What I think is interesting is the specific social media sites that incite such posts such as Facebook or the story feature on Instagram. I think everyone tries to use technology in positive ways but that isn't always the case. For many it is what they see on social media that encourages such behavior of their own. I think technology for my friends has caused some problems because we see what each other post on social media and then take a stance without speaking to the individual. 

My Online Footprint:

This is something we all ponder on a daily basis, what can potential employers see? What do friends see? and what does my own family see? I have looked myself up plenty of times in the past as a way to see what would come up if my name had been searched. Below is a screenshot of what comes up when I search my name into Google:

For me it is my LinkedIn profile that appears first which is a good way for employers to see me in a professional way. Following are various golf tournaments I have played in, my NCAA profile and White Pages. I have nothing on the internet that I wouldn't want anyone else to see and I have always strived for that to be the case throughout my life. On social media accounts themselves it is either school, sports, or politics that is shared across my accounts. Most of my political opinions are held within the Instagram story option as that is a safe place for such opinions. My family comes up in images as well as news articles that involve my name, nothing of which would be of any harm to me. I think individuals really just need to focus on what they post and understand there is a time and place for different posts. While I have become less careful with political posts, I understand the environment is changing and it is something that will be a common factor in the future.