Social media has the potential to make up a large part of the Digital You. Every account you create contributes to the digital footprint you leave behind while online.

What if your digital footprint doesn’t involve measurable amounts of social media use? Are you immune to the effects social media has on the Digital You?

A new report found by the Nature Human Behavior Journal may answer this question.

“Scientists from the from the University of Vermont and the University of Adelaide in Australia liken privacy to secondhand smoke, suggesting it’s controlled by the people around you.”

In other words, your online behaviour can be predicted based on what your connections post on their social media accounts.

The researchers targeted 14,000 users on Twitter and collectively pulled 30 million public posts from their accounts. They found that by using eight to nine of a user’s connections they were able to determine their future posts.

The study also showed that advertisers and other entities could create a detailed profile for those who never use social media. The findings showed that those without social media could still have their future behaviour predicted with 95% accuracy.

What You Can Do

Even if you limit your involvement online there are still ways for companies and others to create perceptions about the Digital You.

At ScoresMatter we help you better understand the Digital You and ways you can manage it. We provide you with blogs and tips along with tools that can help you improve your financial wellbeing and protect your personal information.

Tap Into the Digital You at ScoresMatter.