This is the second data mine I’ve completed for
graduate school purposes. What I’ve learned is that there is some of my personal information that
is out on the Internet that maybe I wasn’t compiling or I wasn’t putting onto
the web myself. This was information compiled through other databases, some
that I had no idea even existed.
I’ve never been scared of my digital footprint because
I understand the reality of our digital world, but I was curious to see how
much I could find. I started with my most common search engine, Google,
and then moved on to others such as PeekYou, Pipl, Radaris, Nuwber, Spezify, BlockShopper, Social Mention,
and People
Finders.
First off, there were tons of pictures popping up.
Old social media profile pictures, current social media profile pictures, a
photo of me that I used on my professional website for a graduate school
class, and even a picture of the yearbook page from my high school. I also
found it interesting that when I Google image searched myself, a lot of
pictures that popped up were not me, but people I worked with. I’m assuming
this is because we share an online directory for our school and all of our
photos are listed by our contact information. I was also associated with some
of the pictures of our students doing activities around school (raking
leaves, grilling food, etc) that have been posted on the school’s website. See
my screen shot below of some of the images that popped up!
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| Personal Screenshot taken of Google Image Search |
Other information that I came across was my
address, age, and both my cell and home phone numbers. Nuwber even gave me a
list of neighbors that lived near me. I glanced over the names and many of them
I knew, but a few stuck out that I did not recognize. Why someone would need to
associate me to my neighbors is interesting to me, especially because we have
such a variety of age range.
Most of my family was listed as relatives on almost
every site. I also saw that not only was it my parents and siblings, but my
grandma’s name was always included as well. My grandma lived with us for many
years so I’m assuming that is how they clumped her in with us. I was intrigued
to see that my dad’s brother, his son, his son’s wife, and their children
popped up a few times as “relatives.” This is interesting because my dad is one
of ten and there are a ton of people who share our last name, so why they were
the only ones to be associated I’m not sure. It may be that the live in a
closer radius to us than the others?
Overall, completing data mines is always fun and it was interesting to see the
information that came across while researching myself! Therefore, the meme I
created for this blog post is below.
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| Personal Meme created on Imgflip.com |
I used Buzz Lightyear and Woody to describe my opinion on digital
tattoos because I think the image captures the visual of how vastly and large the amount of websites that
are out there on the web. I also love that Woody and Buzz have completely
different facial expressions. Buzz seems to be excited about the possibility of
the Internet, while Woody is terrified that his personal information is being
shared with strangers. I think this is often how people feel too, either we are
comfortable with our information being out there or we are doing everything in
our power to secure and protect our personal information. How did you feel about your own personal data mine? What did you learn?
I actually was spooked by my data mine. I completed it during EDU 776 and was honestly shocked to see all of my cities were correctly on there. It was also interesting to see my Myspace picture is still floating the internet. Students have found that actually!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I wish we learned when we were in school was more about social media usage. I graduated high school in 2010 and it was not often talked about in depth. If I would have learned about a digital footprint at that age, I may not have kept that Myspace profile active. I have not used it since middle school (over 10 years ago), but never deleted it. I have tried to, but have failed.
Great post! Thank you for sharing your data mines.
Kara I absolutely love that you not only did a data mine refresh but that you also created a meme! Well done! The explanation of your word/image choice for your meme made it more meaningful for me as a consumer of your product.
ReplyDeleteKara,
ReplyDeleteI did a data mine for a previous technology class a few semesters ago. It is always so crazy to see what information is out there for everyone to see. I always think I am being so careful when I post stuff, but there is still so much of my personal information that is available to anyone who is bored enough to look into it. I think I have decided to just lessen and lessen my social media presence to keep some part of my life private!
PS. I love the title of your blog post!
Kara,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, old information is still floating in virtual space. What you put into the internet, stays in the internet.
I'm cautious with the new cell phones and their finger print scan, retina and face recognition. I'm sure the government is able to retrieve this in someway. I've always heard "Big Brother is Always Watching". It's scary how much information people can obtain with just a few touches of the keyboard.
It is amazing what you can find about yourself on the internet. As a teacher I sat in on an FBI presentation in 2007 and was shocked at what they showed. I made both of my daughters aware, probably a little paranoid since they were young teens at the time. They are still cautious about what they post, and shocked at their friends posts. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing in todays scary world.
ReplyDeleteKara- Unlike you, the first time I did a data mine on myself I was a little horrified. In my post for this week I discuss how important it is to teach our students how to post online in an ethical manner. This is something that I certainly wish I had done while growing up. I LOVED myspace and freely posted some provocative materials, which I later had to contact headquarters about and get their help to clean it up. The digital world may seem like a place to freely indulge in conversation, interact with others, and post about our lives, but there can be real consequences. It makes me think of the people who post something racist or some other identity based slur who end up losing their jobs and being socially ostracized for it, because the reality of it is that there are so many other people online that it is hard not to be held accountable.
ReplyDelete