PLN 5 Redo

In “Footprints in a Digital Age”, Will Richardson discusses the necessity to be “Googled” well in this technological age. Everybody can see everything one posts, blogs, tweets, snapchats. To be googled well is to have a good digital footprint. Everybody, from employers, universities, family, and friends. Will Richardson reviews the need to be googled well in his blog “Footprints in a Digital Age”.

In “Footprints in a Digital Age”, Will Richardson correctly portrays the idea of being googled well in a technological time because the information about a person is available to anyone that wishes to see it. So, what exactly does it mean to leave a good "digital footprint"? It is what people will see when they look up ones name on the internet. To feel like one is justified with what he or she sees on that webpage, “Your digital footprint… is most likely being written without you, thanks to the billions of Web users worldwide”(Richardson). Richardson is explaining that these footprints are out of one's control, that one's reputations impact what others will say, which then affect people. However, there are many bad and untrustworthy things on the internet anyways. Why would somebody listen to the internet about another person? On open web forums and pages, anybody can edit the content. Think of it as a giant game of telephone, or gossip in middle school. In Dr. Michael Wesch's "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Using Us", Wesch claims that society will have to "rethink authorship" (Wesch). After a few years, weeks, or even hours on the web, stories can be distorted much like phrases in the childish game. Society has to ask: is this true? Who should society trust on the internet? But the internet is not the Wild West, with outlaws and desperadoes. It has regulations, rules. People aren't necessarily out to get one another. If one puts a little work into online community service, and doesn’t make stupid decisions, then he or she should be alright. In his blog, “Footprints in a Digital Age”, Will Richardson correctly portrays the idea of being googled well in today’s technological time.