Exploring My Digital Footprint
For the Unit III Assignment you will be answering a series of response questions applying concepts you learned in this unit
and the previous unit regarding social interaction, social structure, and presentation of self. The following concepts in the
course textbook will be useful in helping you complete the assignment: Goffman: Presentation of the Self (pp.72-73); Mass
Media and Technology (p.78); Statuses, Social Roles, and Groups (pp.97-101); and Online Social Networks pp.105-106).
For this assignment, complete Part A, Part B, and Part C as follows:
Part A: Google your name. What various places online did you find your name and personal information? Did you find
anything surprising in your search results? In what ways can aspects of your digital footprint influence personal or
professional opportunities? How does this illustrate that Goffman’s dramaturgy approach applies to one’s own digital footprint?
Note: It is acceptable if you found very little about yourself or found many websites with people with your same name. Just
do your best to discuss what resulted when you tried searching your name online.
Part B: To which achieved and ascribed statuses and primary and secondary groups do you belong? Please make sure to
label which statuses are ascribed or achieved and which groups are primary or secondary in your assignment. How do
these statuses and groups affect your digital footprint and shape self-expression online, which in turn shapes life chances?
Please discuss at least three statuses and at least two groups in answering the above question. You may discuss more if
you wish.
Part C: Open your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or another online social media networking site. Discuss how Goffman’s
theory or view on presentation of self applies to how you present yourself in social media? What statuses and roles do you
choose to present on these online networking websites? Note: This is not asking you to discuss your Facebook status; it is
asking about your achieved and ascribed statuses or roles in your life that you choose to highlight on social media.
Discuss why you chose to include those statuses, roles, and identities but not others. How does the way you are managing
your self-presentation on social networking sites influence your personal and professional opportunities?
NOTE: If you do not use the above-mentioned social media, interview someone who does and get their responses to
answer the questions in Part C.
For this assignment, ensure you follow the requirements below:
1. Answer ALL the questions listed in Part A, Part B, and Part C in your assignment.
2. Please answer the response questions in essay-style format. You will not be rewriting each question and answering
it. You will be creating an essay that addresses the response questions.
3. Use sociological terms and concepts from the textbook reading in your essay to demonstrate you understand and can
apply the concepts.
4. Cite the textbook at least one time in the essay. APA style in-text citations are required to show how the textbook was
used in your essay. An APA style reference list containing the textbook and any other sources you cited in the
assignment is also required.
The essay should be a minimum of two pages and should use the following APA style components: APA style title page,
double-spaced, 1-inch margins, and 12-point font.