Everyone has an online footprint, and some people don't realize just how big it can be. When looking at someones online presence people usually think about their accounts and what they post, but there are more things to consider.
Today, I currently have a Facebook, Instagram, and snapchat. Personally, that is a lot of social media, but I know that there are people out there with way more, and are way more interactive than me. I am the youngest child of 4 kids in my family, would definitely that I was the last of my siblings to be exposed to social media, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I didn't have a presence. Even now, I find that most of the information on me (photos at least) comes from other sources close to me, whether it be my siblings, parents, aunt/uncle, or a friend. There is this great article about this young girl who was 13 when she started using social media only to find that her family were already posting photos and such on the internet (I'm 14, and I Quit Social Media). Sometimes even school organizations or camps can post pictures student/campers online.
What other people are posting about you could give mixed feelings to different personalities, but the extent to which the information is out to the public is dependent on privacy settings. Technically there is no way to make it so that people do not have the authority to post a picture of you online, besides if the one posting the photo has their privacy settings on. Most of the time if a school organization or camp has a social media account, it would be private as to not give away personal information.
Another thing to look out for with social media is the amount of information that is being given to the specific website or company. When making a new account with social media platforms it will ask for all sorts of information, such as age, birthplace, interests, email, they even ask if you want to give them your phone number now. This information could be sold to for advertising, using information like age to find out what kind of stuff should be advertised to you. If this sounds scary, just remember that you agreed to it.
