Common interpretations of the phrase "Digital Footprint" #mdfp
There are four common interpretations of the phrase "digital footprint" and
they all share two common characteristics which are that digital footprints
are about an individual's interaction with a digital world and that the data
created from the interaction can be exploited. The differences depend on
how deep, or prepared, you want to look.
about yourself in the web. This is content you create for a blog, comments
you leave, photo's you up load or your profile and content you create on a
social networking site. There is little difference between your
professional profile and your personal profile. This is used as a
definition in education circles to help children understand that what they
say provides a representation of them what is "Your Digital Footprint?" This
definition introduces the ideas of reputation. The second definition is created by adding the interactions you have with
the web, with content you create. This is where a users activities are
captured, the types of details captured include web pages viewed, the
frequency of visits along with the intervals between them, clicks, IP
address, the time spent on each page, interactions with forms, landing pages
and downloadable content. In reality every interaction with the web can be
captured and stored. This definition introduces the ideas of attention. The third definition is that a digital footprint is the content and captured
interactions you leave and the content that others leave about you in the
web. This is the move from you as a single person to you as part of the
social group. This is what you say about yourself and others about you.
This definition introduces the new idea of the social graph.
The forth definition extends the web to other devices and services including
mobile, TV, iPod and m2m (machine to machine)
The forth definition is the most complete and in reality this is what is
happening. It is possible that every interaction with every digital device
is captured and stored. The value from the analysis of this captured data
can be very high; indeed Google and Facebook are built on this data and the
willingness of users to provide data. User benefit in an exchange of data
for free services, and increasingly user don't have to complete forms as the
data is collected as they go about their routes and routines. "My Digital
Footprint" This extremely personal and private data is subject to strict
privacy laws which provide strong protection for the user. The analysis of
this data is where the value lies and that value can come from behavioural
analysis, profiling, targeting, prospecting, normalising, group profiling,
feature profiles, benefit trades and determination of who influences you and
who you influence.
Finally the phase "Digital Footprint" is also used in two further context,
the first is by companies or individuals trying to show which geographies or
markets their digital services is offered "Our Digital Footprint" and by
companies taking about the size of a digital device, where footprint means
area.
June 2010