Make Your Online Presence College-Ready: The Ultimate Digital Cleanup Guide

Your online presence matters more than ever for college admissions. Many colleges now look at social media when choosing students. About 28% of college admissions teams check social media profiles before making decisions. That’s why it’s crucial to clean your digital footprint before you start applying to schools.

Think of your digital footprint like a trail you leave online. Every post, comment, and photo adds to this trail. Colleges can see this trail when they look you up. That’s why cleaning up your digital footprint before you apply is so important.

This guide will show you how to:

• Find what’s online about you
• Remove anything that might hurt your chances
• Create content that helps your applications
• Keep your online presence clean

We’ll give you simple steps today to ensure your digital footprint helps you get into college.

Why Your Digital Footprint Matters

Your online presence can affect:

• Getting into college
• Winning scholarships
• Landing internships
• Meeting helpful people
• Getting leadership roles

When colleges look you up online, they want to learn more about you. They check for:

• Leadership skills
• Helping others
• Special talents
• Good character
• Problem behavior

Find What’s Online About You

First, you must know what people can find out about you online. Here’s how to look:

Search Your Name

Look up your name on different search websites:

• Try Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo
• Put your name in quotes
• Check different spellings
• Look at five pages of results
• Check images too

Check Your Social Media

Look at all your social media accounts:

• Make a list of every account you have
• Read your old posts and comments
• Look at photos you’re tagged in
• Check what groups you’ve joined
• See what pages you’ve liked

Find Old Accounts

Make a list of other places you’ve been online:

• Old email accounts
• Gaming accounts
• Message boards
• Blog comments
• Old websites

Clean Up Your Online Presence

Now it’s time to clean up what’s online. Follow these steps:

1. Remove Bad Content

Start with what you control:

• Delete any mean posts: Remove posts where you said unkind things about others. Colleges look for students who bring people together, not those who create drama or hurt feelings.
• Remove party photos: Delete photos of parties or risky activities. Colleges worry these photos show poor judgment. Even if you’re hanging out, some photos can give the wrong idea.
• Delete rude comments: Remove angry comments or arguments on social media. Colleges want students who can discuss things calmly. Show you can disagree respectfully with others.
• Leave unfriendly groups: Exit any online groups that post mean things or inappropriate content. Colleges can see what groups you join. They look for students who choose positive communities.
• Hide private posts: Set personal family moments or inside jokes to private. While these might be innocent, colleges don’t need to see everything. Keep some moments just for friends and family.

2. Fix Privacy Settings

Make your accounts more private:

• Set posts to friends-only: Change your settings so only friends see your posts. This helps you control who sees your content. Colleges shouldn’t read every conversation with your friends.
• Stop public photo tags: Turn off automatic photo tagging. You can’t control what photos others take, but you can control whether these tags show on your profile.
• Turn off location sharing: This will prevent your posts from showing your location. Colleges don’t need to know where you go. It will also help keep you safe from strangers online.
• Check app permissions: Review what apps can post to your accounts. Some apps share things without asking. Make sure only trusted apps can post as you.
• Add extra security: Use strong passwords and two-step login. This keeps others from hacking your accounts and posting bad things that could hurt your college chances.

3. Deal with Others’ Posts

Fix what others posted about you:

• Ask friends to remove tags: Politely ask friends to remove tags from unflattering photos or posts. Explain that you’re applying to colleges. Most friends will understand and help.
• Request deletion of harmful content: Ask people to delete posts that show you negatively. Ensure you’re pleasant when you ask. Explain that you’re working on your digital footprint for college.
• Contact websites about old info: Email websites to remove outdated information about you. Old sports stats or club memberships might not show your achievements and growth.
• Report harmful content: Use report buttons for posts that seriously hurt your image. Save this for real problems. Most sites will remove truly harmful content.
• Save copies of everything: Take screenshots of harmful posts before trying to remove them. If you need help from parents or teachers later, you’ll have proof of the problem.

Build a Better Online Image

While cleaning up, start sharing good content:

Make Professional Accounts

Create accounts that show your best side:

• Join LinkedIn: Make a profile that lists your school activities, volunteer work, and any jobs you’ve had. Connect with teachers, coaches, and club leaders. Ask them to write nice comments about your work.
• Make a simple website: This is a great way to share photos and stories about your projects. Ensure you include your best academic work, artwork, writing assignments, and videos you’re proud of.
• Start a blog: Write about things you care about, like helping your community or your favorite school subjects. Share what you learn in your activities.
• Join online school groups: Follow your school’s social media pages, like and share posts about school events, and join online groups for clubs and sports teams you’re involved with.
• Share your volunteer work: Post photos of you helping at food banks, cleaning parks, or tutoring others. Tell stories about what you learned. This shows colleges you care about helping your community.

Share Positive Content

Post about:

• School achievements: Share when you make the honor roll, win awards, or finish big projects. Post about good test scores and college prep work. Thank the teachers and classmates who helped you.
• Helping others: Tell stories about volunteer work, tutoring, or helping younger students. Share links to causes you care about. Invite others to join you in supporting good causes.
• Leading teams: Post updates when you lead school clubs, sports teams, or group projects. Share what your team achieved. Give credit to everyone who helped make things work.
• School clubs: Share photos from club meetings, competitions, and events. Tell what you learned in science club, debate team, or art club. Show how these activities help you grow.
• Creative projects: Show art you make, stories you write, or videos you create. Share projects from computer class or science fair. Tell how you solved problems in creative ways.

Keep Your Digital Footprint Clean

Stay on top of your online presence:

Conduct Regular Audits

Do these often:

• Look at social media monthly: Go through your Facebook, Instagram, and other accounts each month. Look for any posts, photos, or comments that might not look good to colleges. Delete or hide anything that worries you.
• Search your name every few months: Type your name into Google, Bing, and other search sites every three months. Look through at least three pages of results. Check both regular searches and image searches.
• Check privacy settings: Visit your settings page on each social media account every few months. Make sure only friends can see your posts. Turn off location sharing and review who can tag you.
• Clean up old posts: Look back at posts from last year or earlier. Delete anything that seems silly or not professional. Archive posts you want to keep but don’t want others to see.
• Share new good content: Post positive things like volunteer work, school projects, or sports games at least once a month. This shows colleges that you’re active and doing good things.

Develop Good Habits

Follow these rules:

• Think before posting: Ask yourself if you’d want a college admissions officer to see this post. Wait 10 minutes before sharing anything when you’re upset or angry.
• Use clean language: Write clearly and avoid swear words. Skip slang that adults might not understand. Write like you’re talking to a teacher or coach you respect.
• Share helpful things: Post about important events, like school fundraisers or community projects. Share tips that could help other students. Add positive comments to others’ good news.
• Join good discussions: Add thoughtful comments to posts about school events, community projects, or topics you study. Show that you think carefully and respect other people’s ideas.
• Engage with and support your peers: Like and share your friends’ achievements. Comment with kind words when others do well. Help spread good news about school and community events.

Fix Negative Content

Sometimes, you’ll find bad content about you:

Quick Wins

Take these actions:

• Save screenshots: Take pictures of the bad content right away. Save them on your computer or phone. This gives you proof if you need help later.
• Ask people to remove it: Send a nice message to the person who posted it. Most people will help if you ask nicely. Tell them why the content bothers you.
• Report damaging content: Use the report button on social media sites. Pick the correct reason for your report. These buttons are usually near the post or photo.
• Talk to parents or teachers: Show them what you found. They can help you decide what to do next. Many have dealt with this before.
• Get help if needed: Talk to a counselor or online expert if nothing else works. They know how to handle tough cases.

Long-term Strategy

Ensure you do the following to build upon your digital brand:

• Share positive content: Post about school wins, sports, or helping others. Good posts help push down bad ones in search results.
• Improve your profiles: Build a strong LinkedIn profile and sites about your activities. You can add photos from extracurriculars to make your content pop, which helps colleges experience your best side.
• Join helpful talks: Add intelligent comments to class blogs or club pages to show you care about meaningful things – your words genuinely matter.
• Show your success: Share when you do well in school or sports. Post about helping others. Let people see the real you.
• Stay professional: Think before you post. Use good words. Be nice to others online. Act like your dream college is watching.

Helpful Tools

Use these tools to stay clean online:

• Google Alerts: Set up email alerts for your name to notify you immediately when someone mentions you online. Make sure you track different versions of your name to catch everything.
• Social media checkers: Use tools like Social Book or Privacy Checkup to see what others can find about you on social media. These tools scan your accounts and show you posts you might want to fix.
• Privacy tools: Apps like Jumbo help you find and fix privacy problems on your accounts. They check your settings and tell you how to make your accounts more private.
• Profile builders: Sites like About.me and LinkedIn help you make professional-looking pages. They give you easy ways to show off your achievements and skills.
• Content schedulers: Tools like Buffer help you plan and post good content at the right times. They make it easier to keep sharing positive things about yourself online.

Get Expert Help

Cleaning your digital footprint takes time and care. While this guide helps you start, many students need expert help to do it right.

Bright Future Branding helps students like you clean up online and look great to colleges. You can view our services and determine which offering fits your needs best.

Don’t let a messy digital footprint hurt your college chances. Contact our team today for a Digital Audit. We’ll ensure your online presence helps you get into your dream school.

Your digital footprint tells your story. Let’s make it one that opens doors.