ELISE | Informing your studies tutorial: Personal

Watch this video from the Internet Society to better understand why you should care about your digital footprint.

Watch this UNSW video to learn more about the phenomenon of fake news.

Our online activities can have positive and negative impacts on our physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

In this section you will find useful tools to help you explore and manage the impact of digital technologies on your personal wellbeing.

Your digital footprint is the trail of data created while you use the internet. Every time you use the internet you add to your digital footprint through your activities, web searches, emails, social media posts and online purchases. Your digital footprint contributes to your digital identity based on the permanent record of your online activities. 

Types of digital footprints: passive footprint - any data collected without your knowledge or consent. Websites often collect information about your activities, location, search history and IP address without your knowledge active footprint - any personal information you deliberately share online via emails, social media sites and blog posts

Your digital footprint reflects your interests, skills and personality so it is important to cultivate a positive digital footprint. A negative digital footprint can damage your reputation, hurt job prospects and harm your personal relationships. 

Tips for managing your digital footprint

1. Research yourself to understand your current digital footprint.
2. Utilise privacy settings. 
3. Create strong passwords or use a password manager.
4. Be kind and respectful online.
5. Think before you post anything online.
6. Remember that anything you post or share online is there forever.

Misinformation refers to deliberately false or misleading information and is designed to influence opinion, push a specific agenda, or cause confusion.

The term 'fake news' describes deliberately false information in traditional news articles and social media. Fake news stories contain inaccurate information and often fail to present ideas in context. Fake news is becoming increasingly associated with politics and can be incorrectly used to discredit truthful information. 

Creating deliberate misinformation is not a new phenomenon, but in the age of the internet and social media, it has become easier to share information and harder to determine the accuracy and origin of news articles. You should think before you share online information. If you doubt the accuracy of the information do not share it. 

How to Spot Fake News Check the source of the information. Use fact checking websites to verify stories. Examine the evidence especially with sensational claims. Read beyond the headlines. Check multiple sources. Be aware of your own biases. Check the domain address for the website.