Digital Footprint

The mass ‘unfriending’ of Facebook has signaled the public’s dissatisfaction with the social networking site’s privacy policies. Social networking sites have provided millions of people with the ability to connect and keep up to date with friends and family around the world. From keeping up with friends from the past to helping you form new ones, social networking certainly has its purpose; as long as you’re ‘safe’.  Even with their ambiguous privacy settings and indiscernible security policies, no matter how insecure centralized social networks become, without a viable alternative the vast majority of users will not abandon sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and Bebo. Enter Diaspora*.

Diaspora*, the new craze in social media has already raised nearly $200,000 in pledges via the funding website kickstarter in less than one month. That’s 1792% of what the four guys from NYU requested to help them make it through the summer! But what makes Diaspora* worth $200,000? I mean, do we really need ANOTHER social networking site? No. This is why Diaspora* got our attention—Diaspora* promises to be a “privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, distributed, free, open-source social network.”

What this means is that, as individuals, we will each be able to download the Diaspora* software (which the Diaspora* team hopes will go live in September) onto our OWN computers and from there, set up our OWN ‘seeds’ (mini social networks). Each user will be in complete control of what they send to whom. There will be no hub and no moderator. Add a user-friendly interface and a sleek design and everyone will want to have their own ‘seed’.  The privacy settings will all be automatic. With heavy encryption and full user control, Diaspora* has the potential to make social media privacy concerns a thing of the past.

As co-founder, Maxwell explains, Diaspora* will allow you to store all of your information (photos, comments, conversation threads) in one place: your seed. From there, you will be able to push pieces of that information out to whichever ‘friends’ you choose to share it with. After all, when we share data online there is no guarantee that, even if we delete it, that information won’t be available on someone else’s computer due to archiving. Since the internet is still relatively new, as far as anyone knows, the information we’ve posted across the social web will exist forever. But, as the Diaspora* project is set to prove, it doesn’t have to be that way. As the guys put it, “Sharing is a human value,” and everyone should be able to share what they like with who they like without fear of identity theft or damaging their reputation.

As summer approaches, this year's graduates are revamping their resumes and preparing to enter the job market. In today's competitive economy, everything counts in the job search process and resumes aren't the only thing potential employers will be evaluating. A growing trend of employers going online to research applicants means that graduates may need to give their online presence a professional make-over before they apply for their dream job. 

A recent poll conducted by The Creative Group (a specialized staffing service) indicates that 72% of advertising and senior marketing executives were likely to run a web search of the candidate, 59% said they would check to see if the candidate has a LinkedIn profile, 44% would check for a Facebook profile, 35% would read blog posts, and 23% would monitor a candidate on Twitter. Another study indicated that 33% of employers have decided not to make a job offer based on what they saw on social networking profiles while 20% extended an offer based on the online content.

Managing your online presence may be the key to getting a job these days. The following tips will help you whip your online identity into shape and create a polished, professional, workforce-ready persona.

• Delete anything controversial, unflattering, or inappropriate. Go through your profiles and un-tag yourself from any photos you don't want an employer to see. Delete any wall posts, twitter posts, or comments that might reflect poorly on you. Either delete or hide any inappropriate Apps, groups, links or fan pages available on your profile. Review your blog: Have you posted anything controversial recently? If you have either archive it or delete it. · Get to know your privacy settings. Having a closed or private profile can help protect some of your information. To do this go into the profile settings and review your privacy options. On many of the popular social networking sites allow users to select the level of privacy and sharing. Privacy or sharing settings can range from a public profile that allows anyone to view all the information in your profile without your permission to a private profile that limits people who can view your information to those you know and have approved.

• Search yourself. Run your name through Google, Facebook search, Twitter Search, and LinkedIn and see what comes up. It's important for you to know what information on you is easily available. Once you have your results, delete anything that might be unflattering or controversial. If there is anything you can't delete, be ready to explain it to your potential employer if they ask about it.

• Get Involved & Contribute. If you're looking to get into a specific industry, get active online using social networking sites, comment on appropriate, high-quality posts, articles, or tweets across your network, share interesting articles and join groups that align with your professional interests. Demonstrate that you can be active in social media in a meaningful and valuable way.

• Be up-to-date. Make sure your social networking profiles contain up-to-date information, particularly your LinkedIn profile. Also, use your profiles to highlight the things that make you an ideal job candidate - your hobbies, industry organizations, any/or charity work. Talk about it, post pictures of it. Your social profiles should be positive, not just non-negative.