I have a large digital footprint, I used to think it was just for the social media and random newspaper clippings that seemed to show up on Google. Even after the “only me” private setting on most of my 5,500 selfies on Facebook. My footprint was still larger then numerous search engines had led me to believe. It’s at times of great realization like this that I hope that I don’t lose my sense of humor when I’m older, but at least if I do I can always pull up those good old statuses, tweets, comments, and posts where I remind the world (yet again) that “I’m actually hilarious”.

Every time I seem to remember that everything I interact with on the internet is forever record, I’m overcome with this sense of nervousness and frustration with my past “creative” self. And of course my first reaction is to just delete everything and change the name on every social networking account I have. In fact it’s not until I actually log into the various accounts to change my name to some obscure pseudonym that could never be traced back to me that I realise I don’t want all these posts and fragments of myself to trace back to some fictional version of a past me. I mean yeah, some of the pictures I took of myself are so melodramatic and stupid but at the time they were unique and began trends.

I don’t mean to brag but I had pictures with pop cans in my hair way before Lady Gaga did it, and I made a jingle and a statement about “fish face” being the new “duck face” over a year before Anna Kendrick posted it on Instagram.

I mean, it could be said that Maisey Sutherland is a trend setter. So it’s for similar reasons that I keep my name on these accounts, even if  I look back at the post and am in awe of how ridiculous I was.

I think what I took away most from this lecture about my online presence was something I already knew. You have to be responsible, we have this abilities to share anything with the world instantaneously and permanently, so it’s important to have an understanding of where the thin line that separates a absurd picture that can be laughed off later on versus a picture that should always remain private in a way of self preservation.