I believe that it can be possible to control one’s digital reach to a small extent, but on a large scale I find it closer to impossible. I think even if you tried to consciously control what you looked at and what you exposed yourself to, you would find that this exposure is out of your control. I think we do not know the extent of how much we are exposed and how monitored we are, once you consider our TVs, computers, phones etc. Even if we attempted to control this, it is our subconscious that is out of our control. 

Our digital footprint is so large we have no idea, but there are tools built into social medias that can help us reduce and manage it, and these are a few simple ways to do so. The most obvious start is to ensure that your privacy settings are exactly how you want them to be on all of your accounts. Social media accounts allow you to deactivate your account if you wish to do so. It is possible to delete old email addresses that may have been lined to certain accounts you don’t use anymore. If you search yourself online and get results that you want taken down, it is possible to request that the search engine do so. Lastly there are tools that can limit the exposure of your personal information, e.g. ‘Disconnect.me’, ‘Abine.com’.

References:

11 Tips For Students To Manage Their Digital Footprints. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/11-tips-for-students-tomanage-their-digital-footprints/

How to reduce, or even erase, your digital footprint – Clark Howard. (2019). Retrieved from https://clark.com/technology/how-to-reduce-or-delete-your-digital-footprint/

Marketers: Thinking Beyond Reach and Frequency. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/data-measurement/thinking-beyond-reach-and-frequency/