If a stranger searched your name right now, what would they see first? A photo you posted, a tag somebody else added, or nothing at all?
Feeds choose which version of a person gets communicated first. Today you map the three layers of personal digital identity, watch that choice in action, then write a private audit note with one clean-up you will actually make.
Your digital identity has three layers. Layer one is what you posted. Layer two is what others posted or tagged about you. Layer three is what platforms know about you even when you are not posting.
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Digital footprint: the trail of information about you online | It is the thing a stranger, a coach, or a future employer might see first | A tagged photo from three years ago still public |
| Public post: content anyone can see without following you | Public stays easy to find until you lock it down or delete it, and even then copies can linger | An Instagram or TikTok post set to Public, still findable by search months later |
| Platform data: what apps store about you behind the scenes | Location, contacts, and search history shape what you are shown next | A maps app still holding your location history |
Worked example. Fictional student Niamh finds: her own old public rant (layer one), a party photo a friend tagged without asking (layer two), and a shopping app still holding her old address (layer three). The rant is what a stranger would see first. That order is the problem she decides to fix.
Six posts about the same fictional person are public right now. Feeds choose which version of a person gets communicated first. Put the posts in the order you would show them, pick a feed goal, and watch how the order changes.
Write one sentence on the gap between your order and the feed's. This one stays in class: the Portfolio piece is the private audit next.
This is your private Personal Digital Identity Audit: the written communication piece for your Communication Portfolio.
The five ratings are for your thinking today: they are not saved when you leave the page, and they do not go in the file. Leave time for the three-line note (what surprised me / one clean-up / why).
Rate from what you already know or last checked. Live scrolling is optional, and only if you are allowed and comfortable on your own device. Evidence such as "I haven't checked X yet, so my clean-up is…" counts.
The notes box below is your Portfolio entry. Save or export it as m2_l32_digital_identity_audit_<your-initials>, flagged private. No second copy needed.
Talk this through with the person beside you, or sit with it quietly.
Which of the three layers do most people forget about, and why does that matter when a stranger only sees the first two things?
You can put longer thinking in your Reflective Journal later if you want.
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