Building a positive digital presence
You might have already heard of the phrase “digital footprint”. This is the trail left by our online activity, and can include photos, comments, tagged locations, and search history.
But you might be less familiar with the phrase “digital presence”. This is more about the ways in which we interact with others online and contribute to the online world; how we behave day-to-day, rather than our digital history.
So, how can children go about building a positive digital presence?
Creating and sharing content
When children create or share content online they have an opportunity to display their personalities, involve and support others, and to get behind causes they think are worthwhile.
And by making (or engaging with) inspiring and helpful content, children can make their online spaces more uplifting too.
This is a ripple effect. Social media algorithms often present users with the things they engage with most, so by liking or commenting on positive sorts of content, users will begin seeing more of it in return.
And by sharing it they can spread positivity, creating an – on the whole – friendlier online environment. Helping children understand this shows them the power they have over their social media feeds, and what they see.
Being themselves
Building a digital presence is an ongoing process, and it can start with really small steps.
Whether passionate about animation, photography, or coding – if children are good at something (or even just interested in it) they have an opportunity to showcase this online.
Older children especially can do this via social media, by setting up free webpages, putting together blogs on sites like Medium, or having their own YouTube channel demonstrating keepie-uppie skills or offering tutorials on crafts.
Although it takes a bit of bravery for children to put themselves (and their personalities) out there, they’ll have the chance to discover like-minded communities, and to begin constructing a portfolio of their skills and interests for future use.
Engaging with others
A massive part of digital life is chatting and responding to others through social media comments or involvement on streams.
Now, it can be easy to be a bit inconsiderate when children can’t see the individual controlling an avatar, or when the comment they leave is one of thousands.
But for a digital presence to be a positive one, interactions should be respectful and considerate – much like how they should be offline.
This doesn’t mean there’s no room for constructive criticism, debate, and humour, but it does mean that children need to take care with the things they digitally say and do, and to remember that there’s a real person behind each screen.
Media literacy
Encouraging children to think about what kind of online environment they want to be a part of ties into their levels of media literacy.
This is an awareness of online spaces and interactions, how to contribute towards a friendly and inclusive digital world, and how to bounce back when things do go wrong online.
It – of course – also involves developing their resilience to risks, and understanding what are appropriate and inappropriate online spaces for them to use.
And by knowing (and practising) ways of respectful engagement and creating and sharing supportive, useful content children’s social interactions online will be less negative – and more fulfilling – overall.
The most important lesson is that we, and children especially, each have the power and ability to nurture not just our individual online presences, but the online world at large.