MIND YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS

When we share or react to any comments at all, on social media, it should be based on the principles that:

1. We must engage in the interlocution of ideas and opinions to shape our communities whether real or virtual.

2 That the platforms we use to do this and the issues we generate give us the opportunity to be ourselves- humans - who are created to express ourselves and build networks of relationships.

3. This implies we must learn to listen to one another and add value to ourselves.

4. This also demands that we are ethical in the way we communicate, that we communicate responsibly, this includes but not limited to ensuring that we communicate the truth, we are not disingenuous with info for whatever vested interest, we authenticate our sources, we admit to the right of others to disagree with us and even concede to them when they are right even when it hurts our ego, avoid the lust of winning arguments and losing friendships.

Now, I do not advocate these principles just because I'm a person of faith, which is very significant, but also because of my discipline. As a media professional, and Social Media enthusiast, these are the issues I raise in my interventions with millennials, and more recently pastors and Christian educators.

What do all these mean? First, we must approach the virtual community with a learning attitude and gracious disposition. We need to be open minded and respect the diversity of views and even the right of people to air them. We must watch out against the tendency for outbursts that reeks of arrogance, against opinions or expressions we don't share. We need to insist on engaging ideas rather than attacking personalities or cyber-bullying fellow social media users. We shouldn't turn ourselves into a nuisance or social media trolls, just to prove a point or win an argument, for which we are never going to get a trophy.

Second, we should always take with a pinch of salt info from the Internet or social media, because, online, anything goes. We should be particular about the legitimacy of our sources based on the track record and character of the source when we post or share information.

My media literacy has taught me to know how to select my sources and also filter the nuances. We need to cultivate the habit of ardently monitoring info from traditional news channels to corroborate and fact-check our online sources: these include all the analysis, in-depth reports, special focus, and so forth. We shouldn't be in haste to make pronouncements that border on 'outcomes' that are still in progress.

It is very important to be mindful of how we carry on with our Social Media activities because what goes online stays online. The permanency of the contents we push online demands that we strictly mind our digital footprints.

A digital footprint, sometimes called a digital dossier, is the body of data that exists as a result of actions and communications online that can in some way be traced back to an individual.

A digital footprint is relatively permanent once the data is public -- or even semi-public, as may be the case with Facebook posts. For that reason, there is a need for caution about our online activities, to control the data that can be traced to us.

We don't want to get hurt when there's a blast from the past!