How to clean up your digital footprint and why it matters

Do you know who's looking at your old Tumblr, your abandoned Flickr account, or posts from five years ago on your public X profile? They could stay buried in the graveyard of forgotten accounts, or they could leave you exposed the next time someone decides to do a deep dive on your online history.

Most adults now live some portion of their lives online: about 5.7 billion people use social media worldwide, and the average user bounces among roughly seven accounts every month, per Sprout Social. As Luke Thompson, founder of Signal Advisory, put it: "Whether you're going for a new job or whether you're dating somebody, or maybe you're signing a deal or whatever it might be -- it is quite common for people to try and find information about another person." Start by searching yourself.

Open an incognito window, sign out of personal accounts, search your name in quotes and with likely associated keywords such as your university or past employers, and go at least 10 results pages back.

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