LIS 768 01: Reflecting on Digital Tattoos and Data Analysis

 

                                              Introduction

A Photo of Me! Image Source: Personal Photos of Lizzy Prain.

    Hello, Readers! Have you ever looked back at old posts you made out of a sense of nostalgia for old memories, or maybe “What was I thinking?” Every day, many of us use the internet in some shape or form, with more and more household tasks, socialization and games taking place more often online than in past generations, having a presence online to some degree can likely feel second nature to many individuals who require electronic devices and an internet connection in their daily lives. It may even be difficult to remember a time when our lives weren’t updated and posted online. Because of the ubiquity of the internet in many of our individual lives, it can be easy not give a second thought to our presence online, what we search, and what we post; but even if we simply just forget what we put on the internet, everything that was posted about ourselves can still traced back to us in one way or another, even years down the line, especially if the information we share is personal data such as names, schools or connections to hometowns and family members. When we leave information and evidence of our presence on online spaces, this is what is known as having a digital tattoo, otherwise known as leaving digital footprints.

                                     What are Digital Tattoos?

    In the great big spiderweb that is the modern internet, digital tattoos are the threads of silk with which we weave, leaving our interconnecting history, data and presence as individuals through what we post about ourselves. Although commonly called “footprints,” digital tattoos are much more like ink tattoos marked on one’s body, they created as an expression of individual beliefs, love, passions, and self-identity, and are incredibly difficult to removed, if not outright permanent for everyone to see for the rest of time. Just as ink tattoos in real life that are difficult to remove, digital tattoos are elements of what we post that stay online after we move on from a site or social media platform. The traces of our personal data and identity over the years, across different sites and online apps become connectable pieces which form a collection of information about ourselves as individuals through our activities and interactions in online spaces. 

                                              My Data Analysis

A Photo of My Puppy-Dog! Image Source: Personal Photos of Lizzy Prain 

    It's important to always be mindful of what personal information we share when we post online, as we may never know what others may do with our data without our consent nor can we be sure that something is completely wiped off the internet if we should choose to delete a post at a later date. However, learning more about digital tattoos and looking back on old posts don’t have to be a negative experience; instead, data analysis of our social media platforms can be an opportunity to be self-reflective and examine more deeply how we as individuals grow and change over the years when reviewing older posts and updates, taking time to reflect on how we change as people each day without even realizing it, as well as see evidence of how we express ourselves and show traits of our personalities or preferences thought our posting habits on different platforms.

    When I look back upon and reflect over the last twenty-five posts I made on my personal Facebook, what first comes to mind is that I enjoy sharing and creating posts that make me happy or share thoughts or memes with my friends and family that I think they’ll find fun as well. Reflecting over my last post, I share primarily posts about my pet dog who I love with my whole heart, share memes about my favorite movies and shows or inside jokes with my friends, or share photography, artwork and cute puppy videos I enjoy and what to share with the people in my personal life. Overall, I realized that based on the last several weeks I posted on social media sites, such as on Facebook for example, I find that I enjoy cultivating a positive space for myself and my friends online, where I can create or share cute, fun and happy posts. While I have other platforms such as Pinterest for art and fashion moodboards, and that I am a lurker on sites such as Tumblr, Bluesky and Reddit for my favorite fandoms, I felt like sharing my impression of my Facebook page, as it is the social media account that I’ve had the longest, having created it back in junior high. It’s interesting (and a bit cringy) to look back at the post I first made on Facebook as a shy teenager. They were mostly experimental posts trying to figure out the site, wanting to play farming games and giving the gift of digital sheep to friends, or minor updates about my day, such as about school. When looking at my more recent posts, I’m a little more bolder now, I feel my updates reflect my interests and humor developing and maturing as I entered adulthood into the present day. I still post silly, fun and cute things online, but now with slightly more sophistication! I will occasionally share about my school or work experiences, and chime in on serious topics in society with my friends, but overall, I notice that I most often like to share and happy moments from my life online. I suppose I feel because the world has enough negatively as it is, I like to spread positively in my personal corner of the internet with the people I care about through my posts.  

                                                Conclusion

"It doesn't matter to you if you get heads or tails, you just don't like to flip all the time." Image source.

    As the sands of time continue to pass, and the internet remains a ubiquitous resource in our society, digital tattoos will remain as permanent reminders and snapshots of our lives. Much like a difficult-to-remove ink tattoo on skin, digital tattoos reflect choices and information about ourselves that cannot be easily erased. It is important to be mindful when deciding what personal information to share online, to be vulnerable and reveal parts of ourselves to a vast sea of strangers online can come with more risks and long-term consequences if not careful, more dangerous than it may seem in the modern landscape of social media where it seems everyone shares every moment, fact and secret of their daily lives through post updates or livestreaming. However, while being safe and responsible with sharing personal data is always important, digital tattoos can also be a source of nostalgia, as it may lead you back to old memories across the web. You may discover how much you’ve changed over the years or find old accomplishments and hobbies that may have been forgotten long ago. The web itself is not an entirely positive or negative tool, it depends on how we use it and the experience we cultivate for ourselves. Just like with choosing a new ink tattoo, when it comes to digital tattoos when we post online, it’s valuable to take a second and think whether or not we would be comfortable with the information we post today remaining on the internet ten or twenty years from now.