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Do you know who is viewing your old Tumblr? Your abandoned Flickr account? Or your posts from five years ago, casually sitting on your public X profile?
They may remain buried in the graveyard of forgotten accounts. Or, they could leave you vulnerable the next time someone decides to take a deeper look at you and your online history.
By now, most adults are accustomed to living some part of their lives online.
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In fact, there are approximately 5.7 billion social media users worldwide, and the average user bounces between about seven accounts every month. sprout social.
What’s true now, as it was in the early days of social media, when horror stories spread about people losing jobs because of an unfortunate photo dump the morning after a wild evening, is that our digital footprints are growing and they need regular maintenance.
“Whether you’re moving to a new job or you’re dating someone, or maybe you’re signing a deal or whatever – it’s quite common for people to try to get information about another person,” said Luke Thompson, founder of . signal advisoryUK based reputation management firm. “Clearly, Google and social media are the place to do that.”
It’s not just about maintaining a very clean online presence, either. Thompson also pointed out that fraudsters can use information they find about you on the Internet to perpetrate phishing attacks, catfishing, identity theft and more.
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Either way, it might be time to take stock of what, exactly, is connected to you online.
Here are five tips for auditing your own digital footprint – and making sure what’s there is what you actually want people to see.
1. Find yourself
The first and most obvious step is to see what happens when you put your name into a search engine. Open an incognito window in your browser and make sure you are signed out of all your personal accounts.
Thompson advised searching not only for your name in citations, but also with potentially related keywords, such as your university or previous employers.
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Go back at least 10 results pages, and check not just web searches, but image searches as well.
As influential as Google is, there are other places people search, like sites like Intelius and Spokeo, that may contain your personal information. Many of these sites provide ways to opt out by submitting a request.
2. Make a list of your accounts
On the subject of search engines, Thompson said it’s worth remembering that, depending on your profile settings, something you post on a social media platform may show up in web search results.
“What you post on social media is not just limited to those walls,” Thompson said.
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For example, a Facebook profile picture or public X post may be harassed by Google.
And if you’re someone with a small digital footprint, a regrettable old post may jump higher in search rankings than you expect.
As you delve deeper into your self-audit, try to list every account you can remember creating. This includes old email addresses that may be associated with previous accounts.
That list will come in handy when you start reviewing each profile’s account settings, old posts, and more.
3. Check Your Privacy Settings
Speaking of which, one way to make sure that a few questionable posts from college don’t define your online presence is to check your privacy settings for each platform.
Thompson recommended checking your different accounts and making sure your privacy settings are as strict as you need.
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Don’t forget: Platforms regularly update security and privacy settings, so it’s a good idea to double-check what can be turned on or off.
While you’re at it, review if there are any third-party apps like games, quizzes, or even dating apps that may still have access to your information.
4. See what you’ve posted – and who’s posted about you
Even after your privacy settings reach the maximum, it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.
Someone may be able to view your profile through a mutual connection. So, regardless, scroll back and decide which posts may need to be removed.
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“Private doesn’t mean you’re invisible,” Thompson said, adding that there may be profiles or accounts in your network that contain information about you, but you don’t own or control them.
Check posts you’ve been tagged in. Especially for young people, your parents or other family members may have been the first people to create your digital footprint, posting photos of you as a child. There may also be a hashtag related to you on Instagram. You may have to untag yourself or ask to be removed.
In addition to looking back at posts and photos, also review who you’re following and who’s following you. Are you following accounts that your boss wouldn’t mind knowing you followed? And do you really know everyone who is following you and has access to your profile?
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It’s also important to remember that some platforms like X show which accounts you’ve replied to.
And if you haven’t already logged out of your accounts, do so so you can check what someone can see, even if they’re not a friend or follower.
5. Think about who you are to do want people to search online
Although conversations about maintaining your digital footprint often revolve around what not to post, or which posts or inactive accounts to delete, it is equally important to consider what you want people to know about you.
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Thompson called this building flexibility. You can create a personal website or focus on platforms like LinkedIn to highlight professional accomplishments, or curate your personal brand — even if you’re not expecting hordes of people to Google you every day.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s 100,000 or one person,” Thompson said, “you want them to have the right information.”
