Interesting Facts on Digital Footprint and Reputation

A digital footprint is a trail of data you create while using the Internet. In includes the websites you visit, emails you send, and information you submit to online services.

A "passive digital footprint" is a data trail you unintentionally leave online. Your digital reputation is directly related to the digital footprint you leave behind. The impact of both is huge as a positive digital reputation can help one a lot and also a negative will make you fall out on many things.

Below are few facts on digital footprint and reputation you must check out to understand the importance of the same.

1.  It is hard to keep a good digital footprint because everything you do online will never be deleted.

2.  Everything you do is stored in a remote area that you may never have known about.

3.  You can do anything to get these erased but they never will be erased.

4. If you visit a website, the website usually looks at what websites you were on before and after you looked at theirs.

5.  Anything that you search on Google can be looked up.

6.  If you want a job in the future but you have a negative digital footprint, even though you would have gone to college to specialize in its chances are you’re not getting it.

7. About 33% of all colleges research your digital footprint

8. Every computer has a number, so if you put something bad online they can track you down.

9. About 31% of all parents have one social networking site, and 51% have more than one.

10.  A new survey says that 500 of the top colleges are looking at seniors Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

11.  About 38% of all college applicants were negatively affected when colleges looked at their footprint.

12. The rate of colleges looking at your footprint is going up.

13. In 2010, 55% of all recruiters are looking at Facebook, and in 2012,  66% of all recruiters are looking at Facebook.

14. If someone says something about you online it goes on your digital footprint.

15. A survey done by the Denver Post uncovered that 75% of US adults that Googled themselves said their search results were NOT positive

16. The Reputation Economy by Michael Fertik, outlines a principle that we should all strongly consider when it comes to our online reputation; consider our reputation as sort of a credit score.

17. Everything you do online today will be recorded, stored, and analyzed to determine your reputation score which will be updated instantly and used to predict your behavior. This will then have huge consequences for your career business & every other aspect of your life.

18. Negative comments, reviews, unorthodox pictures, and more can all leave a scar on our reputation no matter how long ago it was posted, said, etc.

19. In a study done by Yelp 85% of consumers use the Internet for research before making a purchasing decision thus making reviews, and company profiles incredibly important to monitor.

20. According to the BrightLocal Consumer Review Survey of 2014, 79% of consumers place equal weight on online reviews and personal recommendations and with time this has been increased.

21. Pew Research found that 66% of all bad reviews and personal harassment occurs online via social media and apps. Social media can not only be the demise of our personal reputations, but is also home to where businesses can crash and burn their reputations too. That explains the 81% of internet users that feel little or at all secure when sharing private information with other users on social media sites

22. 75% of companies have formal policies that require their recruiters to do online research when screening candidates for a position.

23. 70% of US recruiters and hiring managers have rejected candidates based on information found online.

24.  85% of US recruiters and hiring managers say positive online content does influence their hiring decisions.

25. If you have a 100% LinkedIn profile it will show up on the first page of Google search results for your name. (Shows the impact of the same)

What importance do you think digital footprint and reputation have in one’s life?