Data Mining

 Welcome!

Happy Thursday! I am so thankful tomorrow is Friday. Why do short weeks at work always feel like the longest? Here's a highlight from today: My students were asked the question "What should Ms. Edwards be for Halloween?" I had so many creative third graders giving me ideas. A few of my favorites were Princess Peach, a werewolf, a Starbucks coffee, and a toilet. YES! You read that one right a toilet... I wish I had some of the pictures created, but I left them at school tonight. Enough about my day! Let's dive into this week's blog topic. Today, I will be focusing on digital tattoos and conducting a data mine on myself.

Photo Source: GIPHY

Digital Tattoos

To begin, a digital tattoo is also known as a digital footprint. I really like the term digital tattoo because our digital presence is similar to a tattoo... it will last forever! An interesting fact about myself is that I just got my first tattoo this summer on the date my grandma passed away four years ago. I always wanted one that was meaningful towards her, but I wanted it to be the perfect one. Four years later, I finally decided on the best one! The tattoo below has a lot of meaning for the relationship between my grandma and I. In her obituary, I used a bible verse from Matthew 5:14 "Be the Light" because she always called me her little sunshine. See my tattoo below! However, I find it very interesting how it took me four years to finally decide on my tattoo, but it only takes me five seconds to make a post on social media. I have never been aware of this until today. I find this somewhat shocking to me as both can last forever! 

Photo Source: Author

Data Mine

This makes me very curious to see what all is out there on the internet about me. As an educator, I believe it is important to be aware of what is online about myself. Just last week I overheard some of my third graders saying they were googling their parents names to see what they could find about them. One of my students said, "Ms. Edwards my dad is famous! I found his Twitter account for being an SIU Football coach." This statement made me giggle because she was so excited to see her dad on Google. My students are very curious and they might even be looking me up online! With that being said, I believe even third graders should be educated on internet safety. My students are at a curious stage in life and it will only grow. Many of my students have internet devices at home and although they are too young for social media, it's not too early for them to learn the importance of digital footprints. I think teachers, social workers, and parents should all play an active role of teaching these students the importance of internet safety. 

Not only are students curious, but many employers and parents are wondering what they can find online about their employees or in my case their child's teacher. I am very cautious of what I post now and the majority of my social media accounts are private, but as mentioned in my last blog I am a Gen Z and have had social media since I was 13.  So today I am going to use different websites to find data on myself and see what information I can find on myself. 

To begin, I am using web platforms without being logged in as myself. On my first data dig, I used Google, but in an Incognito window. Here is what I found typing in "Mayci Edwards". 

Screenshot from: Google Search

I scrolled through this Google search and found that almost all were about me! I didn't find this shocking because there are not many people that have the same spelling as my first name. This short Google search allowed me to see my LinkIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts. I also saw many articles and recruiting profiles from my high school days. These caught my attention and I clicked throughout each one to reminisce on these days in my life. After looking through the websites, I clicked on Google Images to see what would pop up. A few of the pictures were actually of me, but the others were pictures of my teammates and one was from one of my great grandmas obituary. Then there were a couple that did not have any connections to me.

Screenshot from: Google Search

After the typical Google search, I used the website Instant Checkmate to see if I could find any other information on myself. I completed the search by putting my first and last name as well as Illinois. Immediately it asked if I lived in Carmi or Carbondale. This information was accurate because my hometown is Carmi and I currently live in Carbondale. Then it asked if I had specific relatives and it listed my mom, grandparents, and uncle. It also included my middle initial and age. I tried to see more reports from this website, but it gave very little information on me without signing up for the search. I continued to use various websites for my data dig, but did not find a whole lot of information. I was a little shocked that there was not more information about me on the web, but I am also young and do not have a lot of public accounts on the web. I used many websites to conduct this data mine such as PeekYou, Truthfinder, and BeenVerified. 

Thanks for reading! I enjoyed this data dig and think it was beneficial to be aware what is out there on the web about myself. If you have time and have not looked yourself up, I highly encourage it!