Digital Tattoos and Data Mining: Digging for Dirt and Diamonds

Data Everywhere: Wow! There is a lot of data out there on all of us. I worked on the data mining assignment, and quickly found all sorts of information on our assigned person. Of course, my “assignment” was a stand-up guy with many talents and interests. Then, I started data mining my own name. Granted, I was awarded the Goodie Two Shoes Award my senior year in high school, and haven’t changed much, so I wasn’t too nervous. After checking a couple of websites, I found out that the whole world knows how old I am. Oh, well, I think of age as experience. There are also some omissions. For instance, a couple of my children were listed, but not all. Several did not list my most recent master’s degree. One site said that I had worked at Idyllwild Arts Academy, which I have never heard of, but it sounds like a nice place. This extraneous information presents another problem. Some people believe information is true if it is on the internet, and it is not the case.  

Data Mining History: I have always been aware of leaving a trail of words. When I worked at IBM, I was told that the administrators had access to all of my emails. I have always lived by the adage, never put in writing what you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. When social media became popular, I wanted to be a part of it. I joined Facebook. I told my kids that they could join if they would friend their grandmother. If a post could pass the grandma test, it was okay for the rest of the world. I do remember warning them not to post or to get tagged in any pictures where they could be accused of wrongdoing. One of my friend’s daughter’s had a red Solo cup in a photo taken at a high school party, contents undetermined, and got suspended from her high school sports team for a week. My kids friended me when they went to college, which was great, because I could see the pictures from dances in which they were tagged. My Facebook posts are pretty innocuous. I post Chicago Cub pictures, social emotional articles, charity events, and patriotic posts, etc. I am pretty much “baseball, hotdogs, apple and Chevrolet”. Here is what you get when you google me. If you go to images, the first picture that you see of me is the picture below. It is a District 90 picture of the new teachers who joined D90 in 2014. 

Photo by Dawn Simmons, D90 Communications

To teach or not to teach: I think digital tattoos are a topic that teachers need to explain to their students. Most kids do not understand the web, let alone the permanence of a digital tattoo. Unfortunately, there are people who will use this online information for bad purposes, hence my title digging for dirt. Kids also need to know that it is good to have a positive web presence, my digging for diamonds reference. It is good to share what you have learned and read with others. So as with most things, you need a balance, of what you share and what you don’t, because unlike footprints, what you leave behind digitally is permanent.