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| Image: http://wakeup-world.com |
One small step for man; one great big leap into oblivion for a digital junkie. Yet the time finally arrived when I simply had to clean up my digital footprint. Yes. I've done it. I have deleted all the online accounts I no longer use, and updated the rest. With a virtual history like mine I can assure you that is no mean feat.
At this stage I am still not entirely convinced that I actually exist if I no longer fill the entire first page of a Google search for my name. That's all right, though: I have a strange sense of being purified and reborn. Not to mention a little more up to date. The drawback of old those old online accounts was not so much that they had become out of date as that many of them no longer reflected my interests or views, and worse yet, they left just a little bit more information about me out there than I would like to share with the whole wide world and its evil cousins.
While there is no doubt that many online services can make life easier, better or simply more fun, there is a sinister side to sharing personal data indiscriminately. Perhaps How to Ditch Big Brother and Disappear Forever is taking things a bit far, but periodocally re-evaluating what we share online is probably not a bad idea. In my case it was a pre-New Year's resolution and something of a personal revolution. And while my virtual identity has taken a bit of a blow in the process, real life is the better for it.
Thinking of a digital footprint cleanup? While you might want to erase your digital footprint completely, most normal people who are not running from the law will benefit from simply deleting unused old accounts, adjusting privacy settings on accounts they wish to maintain, and reconsidering who really belongs in their social networks.
Here's to virtual rejuvenation!
