Your digital footprint is the mark you leave online, and unless you are careful, things can get messy. So as the ever-wise DJ Khaled told us, don’t play yourself.  Next time you start to type that Facebook rant or angry response in the family WhatsApp group ask yourself, do I really want to post this? Facebook and WhatsApp want to save you from yourself.

Here are 3 ways to protect your digital footprint:

Control who sees your posts on Facebook
Just because someone is your friend on Facebook doesn’t mean they have to see everything you post. In fact, sometimes it is better that they don’t.  Luckily, Facebook allows you to control who sees your posts and stories on the platform. Find step by step directions on how to control your Facebook privacy settings here.

Remember, if your posts are public, know that even people who are not your friends can see your posts, so don’t share sensitive stuff like your address, email address, mobile phone number and definitely don’t share passwords.

Controlling who sees statuses on WhatsApp
By default, WhatsApp sets your privacy settings to public. You can set your last seen, profile photo and/or status to the following options:

Everyone: Your last seen, profile photo and/or status will be available to all WhatsApp users.

My Contacts: Your last seen, profile photo and/or status will be available to your contacts from your address book only.

Nobody: Your last seen, profile photo and/or status will not be available to anyone. Learn how to do that here for Android and iPhone

Use your activity log to amend posts
Your activity log is a time capsule of all the fun, funny and absolutely embarrassing things that you have ever said on Facebook. If you visit the page, you will see your full Facebook history with EVERY thing you have ever said and liked on the platform. Thanks to the many programmers at Facebook, you now have control over what stays online.

Visit your activity log and start removing all of the comments you would rather not want people to see on the platform

Remember:
It’s important to do an occasional privacy check on all your social media platforms. Go to the privacy settings and make sure you are happy with them. Search your name and see if you are happy with your online presence. You don’t want to lose a chance at your dream job because you didn’t stay woke about your digital presence.