Auditing Your Current Digital Footprint

1. What Is a Digital Footprint Audit (and Why Now)?

Your digital footprint audit is a quick, structured check of what people see when they search your name online.

You’ve already learned:

• Digital first impression = what people think of you from online info before meeting you.
• Personal brand = what you want to be known for.

Now you’ll compare:

> What you want to be known for vs. what actually shows up online.

In this module you will:

• Search your name on major search engines
• List the top results that shape your first impression
• Tag each item as positive, neutral, or risky for your brand
• Create a short action list of things to fix or improve

You can do a useful audit in about 15 minutes if you stay focused.

2. Quick Prep: Define Your Target Brand in 3 Lines

Before you look yourself up, remind yourself what you want people to see.

Write this in a notes app or on paper (copy/paste the template):

```text

My 3-line brand snapshot

1. Who I am (role/student focus):
2. What I’m good at (skills/strengths):
3. What I want opportunities in (future goals):

```

Example (student, age 16–18):

```text

My 3-line brand snapshot

1. High school student interested in computer science and design.
2. Good at problem-solving, basic coding (Python), and visual presentation.
3. Looking for opportunities like internships, tech clubs, and portfolio-building projects.

```

Keep this snapshot open. You’ll use it to judge whether your current online presence matches or clashes with your desired brand.

3. Set Up a Neutral Search Environment

Search engines personalize results based on your history. To see something closer to what others see:

Do this setup (takes 2–3 minutes):

1. Use a private/incognito window

• Chrome: `Ctrl + Shift + N` (Windows) or `Cmd + Shift + N` (Mac)
• Edge: `Ctrl + Shift + N`
• Firefox: `Ctrl + Shift + P`

1. Sign out of Google/Microsoft if possible in that window.

1. Choose your region (optional but helpful):

• On Google, scroll to the bottom and check the country setting (e.g., United States, United Kingdom).
• This matters because search results can change by country.

You won’t get a 100% identical view to every employer or teacher, but this gets you much closer than using your normal logged-in browser.

4. Ego-Search: What Shows Up When You Google Yourself?

Now you’ll run an ego-search (searching your own name) and capture the results.

> Goal: Collect the first page of results for your name on at least two search engines.

A. Search your name on Google

1. In your private/incognito window, go to [https://www.google.com](https://www.google.com).
2. Search for your name in quotes:

`"FirstName LastName"`

Example: `"Jordan Rivera"`

1. If your name is common, add a detail:

`"Jordan Rivera" student`, `"Jordan Rivera" robotics`, or your city/school.

B. Repeat on another search engine (to compare)

• Try Bing ([https://www.bing.com](https://www.bing.com)) or DuckDuckGo ([https://duckduckgo.com](https://duckduckgo.com)).

C. Capture the first impression

Create a simple table in your notes and fill it in as you scroll the first page of results.

```text

Search Audit – Page 1 Results

Search engine: Date:

| Result type (site) | Short description | Feels: + / 0 / –

--|----------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------

1 | | |

2 | | |

3 | | |

4 | | |

5 | | |

6 | | |

7 | | |

8 | | |

9 | | |

10| | |

```

You’ll label Feels: + / 0 / – in a later step, so you can leave that column blank for now if you want.

5. Spotting High-Visibility Assets (What Really Matters Most)

Not every result matters equally. Some links shape your first impression much more than others.

High-visibility assets (most important):

• Professional profiles (e.g., LinkedIn, GitHub, Behance, portfolio sites)
• Public social media profiles that show your real name (Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, Facebook)
• School or competition pages mentioning you (team pages, award lists, articles)
• Personal website or blog (even a simple one)

Lower-visibility items (still matter, but less):

• Old forum posts under a nickname
• Random people with the same name (if clearly not you)
• Auto-generated pages with almost no info

---

Example: Search results for “Jordan Rivera”

Google – first 5 results:

1. LinkedIn – Jordan Rivera → Profile with a photo, lists high school, coding club, part-time job
2. Instagram – @jordan.codes → Public profile, mix of coding projects and memes
3. Medium article – “How I Built My First App at 16” → Blog post by Jordan
4. School robotics team page → Lists Jordan as team captain
5. Facebook – Jordan Rivera → Old profile, last updated 4 years ago, party photos

High-visibility assets here:

• LinkedIn profile (1)
• Instagram profile (2)
• Medium article (3)
• School robotics page (4)

Less helpful / potentially risky:

• Old Facebook profile (5) with outdated public photos.

As you look at your own results, star or highlight anything that:

• Shows your real name clearly
• Is near the top of page 1
• Has a profile photo or lots of images

These are the items that most strongly shape your digital first impression.

6. Public vs. Private: Audit Your Social Profiles

Now focus on your public social media and profile completeness.

> Goal: List which profiles are public, what they show, and how “professional” they look.

A. Identify your accounts

For each platform you use, write:

```text

Platform:

Handle/username:

Real name shown? Yes / No

Profile public or private? Public / Private / Not sure

First 3 posts visible (topics):

1.

2.

3.

Overall vibe in 3 words:

```

Check at least:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• X/Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn (if you have it)
• GitHub / Behance / portfolio sites (if relevant)

B. View your profile as a stranger

• Log out or use incognito
• Search your handle or visit your profile link
• Note what a non-friend can see: bio, photos, likes, comments.

C. Quick reflection (write short answers):

• Which profiles are fully public?
• Do your profile pictures match the brand snapshot you wrote earlier?

(Example: Do they look friendly, appropriate, and somewhat like the “you” you want professionals to see?)

• Is there any jarring contrast? (e.g., LinkedIn says “future engineer” but Instagram bio says something totally different or immature.)

7. Classifying Content: Positive, Neutral, or Risky?

Now you’ll practice tagging content as supports, neutral, or undermines your brand.

Think of:

• Positive (+): Helps your brand (projects, awards, thoughtful posts, leadership roles).
• Neutral (0): Doesn’t really help or hurt (random memes, generic likes, non-controversial hobbies).
• Risky (–): Could hurt you (insults, bullying, offensive jokes, illegal behavior, extreme arguments, very revealing photos, or anything you’d be embarrassed to show a teacher/employer).

Answer the question below based on this rule.

8. Tag Your Own Results: Supports, Neutral, or Undermines?

Now apply the +/0/– system to your own search results and profiles.

> Goal: Decide how each visible item affects your desired brand.

A. Re-open your search results table from Step 4.

For each result, fill in the Feels: + / 0 / – column using this guide:

• Mark + (supports) if it:
• Shows your skills, interests, or achievements
• Shows you being kind, responsible, or creative
• Is clearly aligned with your 3-line brand snapshot

• Mark 0 (neutral) if it:
• Doesn’t say much about you
• Is unrelated to your goals (e.g., a random username on a forum that’s not clearly you)

• Mark – (undermines) if it:
• Shows you being rude, offensive, or cruel
• Shows illegal or unsafe behavior
• Includes very personal or embarrassing content
• Strongly clashes with your brand snapshot

B. Do the same for your social profiles

Create a second mini-table:

```text

Public Profile Audit

Platform | Public? | First impression in 1 sentence | Feels: + / 0 / –

---------|---------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------

| | |

| | |

| | |

```

Be honest. This is for you, not for grading. The more honest you are, the more useful your action plan will be.

9. Find Gaps and Risks: What’s Missing? What’s Worrying?

Now you’ll identify gaps (what’s missing but should be there) and risks (what’s there but might hurt you).

> Goal: Write a short list of gaps and risks.

A. Gaps (missing positives)

Look at your results and ask:

• Do my top search results show anything related to my goals (skills, projects, interests)?
• Is there a professional-looking profile (like LinkedIn or a simple portfolio) in the top 5 results?

Write your answers:

```text

Gaps – things that are missing but would support my brand

1.

2.

3.

```

Examples of gaps:

• “No results show my art or design work.”
• “My LinkedIn doesn’t appear on page 1 because I haven’t made one yet.”
• “My top results are all random people with my same name, not me.”

B. Risks (existing negatives)

Look for anything you tagged as – (undermines).

Write:

```text

Risks – things that might hurt my brand

1.

2.

3.

```

Examples of risks:

• “Old Twitter account with angry arguments in the replies.”
• “Public TikTok with inappropriate jokes under my real name.”
• “Facebook album with embarrassing party photos visible to ‘Public.’”

10. Build Your 10-Minute Action Plan: Quick Wins vs. High-Risk Items

You don’t have to fix everything today. Start with small, high-impact moves.

> Goal: Create a short, realistic action list you can start this week.

A. Quick wins (easy improvements)

These usually take under 10 minutes each. Examples:

• Switch a personal account from Public → Private (or tighten privacy settings)
• Change a profile picture to something more appropriate
• Update a bio to better match your brand snapshot
• Pin a positive post (project, award, or achievement) to the top of a profile

Write 2–4 quick wins:

```text

Quick Wins (do these in the next week)

1.

2.

3.

4.

```

B. High-risk items (priority fixes)

These are anything you tagged as – that could seriously hurt you if a teacher, admissions officer, or employer saw it.

For each high-risk item, decide:

• Delete it (if it’s yours and you don’t need it)
• Make it private or change audience settings
• Edit or un-tag yourself if possible

Write 1–3 high-risk items and your decision:

```text

High-Risk Items (handle as soon as possible)

1. Item: _ Action: Delete / Private / Edit / Other
2. Item: _ Action: Delete / Private / Edit / Other
3. Item: _ Action: Delete / Private / Edit / Other

```

You’ve now completed a basic digital footprint audit. The next step in your learning journey will be to intentionally design and strengthen your online presence to match your personal brand.

11. Key Term Review: Digital Footprint Audit

Flip through these cards to review the most important terms from this module.