Digital Tattoo

Permanence 

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       My mom told me when I was younger that I couldn't get a tattoo because it is against my religion. While that was effective in getting me to not eat ham before I was 15, it is not the reason I have never gotten a tattoo. The question always was, "What is something I would want on my body FOREVER?" The forever part is always the factor that has prevented me from getting a tattoo.  

       Would barbed wire still look "cool"  to me when I was 70?  What if I put a girl's name on my body, and things didn't work out? At one point I thought about getting a Scooby Doo tattoo, as that would remind me of my happy childhood, but I personally think a cartoon tattoo looks a little silly on an older person.  The other tattoo ideas I seriously considered when I was in my young 20's were the team emblems for either the Bulls, Bears, or Sox, a Chicago flag, as well as a picture I drew when I lived in Hawaii that resembled someone sitting on the beach staring out into the ocean.

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       The older I get, the less I desire getting a tattoo.  If I were forced to get a tattoo (maybe a madman takes people hostage, and the only way he lets us go is if I got a tattoo), I think I would tattoo my wedding date and children's birth dates over my heart.

       Digital tattoos are a different story.  In short, it is your digital identity. "Just like a tattoo, your digital reputation is an expression of yourself. It is formed and added to by you and others over time. Your digital tattoo includes things like websites or blogs you’ve created, tweets, blog comments, your account or screen names and everything else you’ve left on the Internet from your online activities. Just like a real tattoo, a digital tattoo is easy to create but extremely difficult to remove. But it’s also unlike a tattoo in that it’s not always in your control, since other people have the ability to post information about you online.

There is nothing wrong with having a digital tattoo – digital tattoos are not bad or dangerous, and positive posts can actually work to enhance your reputation. Plus if there is anything negative about you, it helps to have some positive information to counterbalance it." (http://www.bpl.bc.ca/node/2874)

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       So while I have no real tattoos, I have hundreds or even thousands of digital tattoos.  Every tweet I tweet, blog I blog, picture of me in Facebook, and video I post on YouTube, is forever out there in the digital world.  My first thought to this is, "Thank god there was no social media when I was in high school or college."  While I worked my butt off, I definitely had my fair share of fun along the way.  Now with 2 kids, and one more almost here, most of the "fun" I have involves brushing Barbie's hair and getting jumped on.

        As a teacher, I feel that there is a lot more scrutiny of your digital tattoo.  With students, parents and administrators, able to see what you post online, teachers need to be a bit more selective of their identity.  I have had both parents and students request to be my Facebook friend.  This is always a bit awkward.  For students, I always tell them that I will accept their friend requests when they turn 18.  As of now, only one student has remembered and asked me to be their friend.  For parents however, it puts me in the predicament of do I accept their request and allow them full access, or do I deny their request and make them feel neglected.  To be honest, I have never denied a parents request.

      Knowing that students, parents, and administrators can access my tweets and Facebook posts/pictures, I just make sure that my digital tattoo projects my image in a positive way.  While I would say that 99% of the photos I take would never be deemed inappropriate, there is an occasional one of me from high school or college, that I would probably rather not have my students, their parents, and administrators see.  To solve this problem, I just "untag" my name from the picture so my name and account are no longer attached to the picture.  My wife uses this feature when someone posts a picture of her that she does not find very flattering (which happens very rarely).

       As an educator and a parent, I feel there is a responsibility I have to educate my students and children about the permanence of what they put online.  They need to understand that once it is out there, it will stay out there forever.  Your digital tattoo is an opportunity to share your thoughts, feelings, and pictures with friends and family, but also to complete strangers, so they need to be selective of just how much they share.  Additionally, I will let them know that future colleges and employers are now looking at a candidate's participation in social media.  What will your digital tattoos say about you?