The digital era has given rise to so much for us. From finding a long-lost friend to seeking therapy on your phones from any corner of the world, we have come a long way. It goes to show that you manage your digital life in an evolved manner too.
As the technology evolved with time and upgraded, we did too. We have a much more comfortable lifestyle than we had ages ago due to the various innovations and devices humanity brought to life. The devices that you use regularly have changed your lives in managing your online presence. Our phone functions, social media accounts, the feed we read, etc.
With this, the internet gave rise to the online presence, with which you do not require to be physically present- only digitally. It did not give rise to just a couple of online platforms; it set a billion-dollar industry for social media and made companies earn millions for their products/brands through marketing.
Today, most of us hold two types of lives in our online presence- professional and private online lives. We hold various accounts online for various purposes, and managing them in an organized manner can be challenging. So how do you simplify your online life and safeguard it?
As the internet and online presence evolved with time, so did a new class of criminals. Cybercriminals were born out of the presence of one’s digital life; hence being cautious of how to manage your online life is highly essential. You use your phone daily, disregarding the importance of protecting your online life.
If you are only a google search away, you have an excellent online presence. Suppose one wants to build on their online presence- in that case, you should know how to manage your online life by gaining an excellent online following which we spread by networking online and creating that online presence.
People often ask- what is my online presence, and is there a solution to manage your online presence? What are the methods or ways with which one can safeguard their digital life from being exploited? But first, we would have to dig into what having an online life is about and how to navigate managing a digital life.
What Is My Online Presence?
The term online presence in itself is self-explanatory in what it stands for. Any activity or content a person posts on the internet gains a confident online presence because it leaves a digital footprint, hence to manage your digital life is a necessity for the sake of your online presence.
Your online presence shows more of your information than you know. Hence, to protect your online life and secure your accounts in an organized manner, what is my online presence and does it play a significant role?
Our online presence on social media shows us so much more about the world than we know. It’s best not to post something that can stain your reputation professionally, which is why it makes digital life tricky.
The better choice is to make all your social media accounts private, as privacy matters in this scenario. Keep your professional contacts away from your personal accounts, which means do not add them as your friend, etc., if you have a heavy online presence.
We exist online for various reasons, but our online presence lingers in three main areas: brand establishment, private life, and networking. Most people don’t know how to deal with their online presence when it is classified into these different categories.
Some quick tips regarding these areas for a more balanced outlook:
- Brand establishment: When using social media or any online platform for the sake of your business- make sure you have a good marketing strategy and know who your brand caters to(target audience wise).
- Private life: Make sure you keep your social media accounts private as your job recruiters might check up on your digital profiles; if going public, think twice before posting as it is available to anybody.
- Networking use: How you portray yourself online through your professional or private accounts will show how well you can build up more contacts and grow; ensure you check who you network with pre-handed for safety reasons.
10 Ways To Manage And Protect Your Online Life
Cybercriminals are a hassle for anybody online. With most of their crimes being financially motivated, one should be concerned with protecting their digital life online. Hence, protecting your online life from misuse should be your top priority; so, what is the solution?
Most of us have busy lives, making our social life seem even busier than our digital life. Our social media has such a massive presence in our lives that we tend to forget about their security.
There are many ways to protect your accounts; the easiest should be opting for two-factor authentication and applying an app lock to everything. It helps because it prevents others from interfering with your accounts, and privacy is our top priority.
It helps grant the security that one has with the private information they share online. Safeguarding that online presence is essential- and apart from hackers being financially motivated to get more victims, identity theft is also on the rise.
What is my online presence and how do you deal with online presence? There are many ways to balance this digital life that we have. But the most efficient way to deal with this would be to know how to sell your brand to your target audience.
Every platform caters to a specific age group leading to a target audience that shows where your brand/product belongs. For example, if your brand sells apparel, based on the types of apparel you sell, it would gather that crowd- from kids,adults to teens, and so on.
To build the online presence of the brand, how we choose our social media platform will help with the expansion process. In this case, the age group of 20-25 would be a customer base, instagram can help networks to build a loyal customer base to grow the online presence for the beginning.
Always Use A Vpn
A Virtual Private Network (also known as VPN) is an arrangement where a secure private network is achieved using encryption over a private network. A VPN hides your online activity against hackers,government agencies, and other corporations who want to spy on you digitally. Get yourself secured with VPN protection through its encrypted server with which it hides your IP address,to manage your online privacy.The VPN will play the perfect role to protect your online life.
Email Encryption
Most of our emails are written with a professional tone, and sending confidential data of any type; email encryption is a must. Facilities like encryption will help manage your online presence. Its function distorts the message to anyone, but the authorized individual only gains access.
Be Wary Of Phishing
Phishing attempts are scammers who can access your personal information through attachments/links by posing as a legitimate deal. People fall for them, and the precautionary measure would be to avoid clicking on ads and rotate your password frequently. You can use anti-phishing protection to protect your online presence as well.
Check For Websites With Privacy Indicators
One of the two main ways to know if the site you are on is secure is by checking if the “HTTP” has an ‘s’ in it. The other alternative is to check the padlock is closed, and you can check for a website privacy policy. Security tools are also commonly used to check the site’s safety to protect your online life.
Virus Protection And Anti-Malware
Since cybercriminals are always looking for ways to rob you, this is an excellent reason to get virus protection and anti-malware into your device. Malware is hazardous to your device’s health; this protection offers detection and removal of anything that interferes. It also helps in simplifying your online life safety to an extreme level.
Use Strong Passwords
We tend to take our passwords lightly and repeat their use on various accounts. Use a combination that has no personal link and involves the usage of capital letters and numbers. It will also help if you change your passwords frequently, as this will also help manage your online life and protect your online presence.
Automate Your Software Updates
Your online presence will be safe if you update your software on time. But most of us do not update or forget to, so choose the automatic update setting for your software to simplify your online life.
Limit The Number Of People Who Have Access To Your Accounts
It is a vital plot to address, and many people like to share their account passwords with their partners or close friends so they can access their entire lives. Please understand your privacy is in your hands, and sharing your account information with many can be used to mess with your online presence; hence, be cautious of who has access to your accounts.
Beware Of Public Wifi
A straightforward pathway for hackers to steal your sensitive data is through public wifi. Yes, it is very tempting to connect to it as well; hence when doing so, make sure you have a VPN or good firewall protection on your device to avoid mishaps. It will help because it protects your online life by granting encryption, etc.
Turn Off Your Location
It is best to turn off your location when you are not using it. With how the world is today, anybody can stalk you with the help of the apps on your phone- keeping your location on is only helping their goal. So for safety reasons, it’s best to turn it off. Most of us have the habit of remaining online most of the time, whether it be in connection to professional or private reasons- it’s best to take the precaution to keep your digital life safe.
Conclusion
To protect your online life is simple once we learn to manage our online presence efficiently. Balancing out how to manage our accounts together can be tricky; with the digital footprint we leave, everyone would prefer for their digital legacy to be protected. With cybercriminals waiting to steal your personal information, one must start choosing precautionary measures previously.
Clocr offers various services, from protecting your digital assets via a secure digital vault to creating a social media will. You can make a social media will to protect your digital legacy and safeguard those memories on your social media accounts. Clocr grants a straightforward, simple, and organized manner to all your social media accounts, digital assets, and memories to store and cherish throughout your digital legacy.
