Spring Cleaning Your Online Accounts

The Online Corner article "Spring Cleaning Your Online Accounts" as appeared in the May 2020 edition of snapd Dufferin/Caledon.

Submitted by Sarah Clarke, Media Strategist and Founder of Dufferin Media

Finally the month of May has arrived - spring is here!  I don’t know about you but I have started working through my home room by room and tackling some spring cleaning projects!  The only downfall is currently due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic none of the non-profit agencies are accepting donations.  So I am storing all donation items carefully getting them stacked and ready for when it is safe to donate again.

Spring is also a great time to think about giving your online presence a “spring cleaning”.  In today’s fast paced digital world, we often forget what we might have set up in terms of social media accounts, online subscriptions and more that can quickly become a source of digital clutter. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

What social media accounts do you have?  Are there any that you just do not use?  Why not delete your account if you do not use that profile.  When was the last time that you reviewed the details of your social media profiles?  Spring cleaning your social media profiles might include updating your profile picture, your contact information, your job etc.  Now is also a great time to take a look at your security settings in each social media platform to make sure they are updated and set to what you are comfortable with.  Many platforms, such as Facebook, change their security options on a regular basis, so once in a while it is a valuable exercise to check your security setting to make sure that you are protected.

Spring cleaning of your social media accounts might also mean reviewing who you are connected with, following, or friends with, and audit those that you no longer really want to have on your list.  

These tasks would be valuable to businesses, organizations, and individuals, and parents take note too of your children’s social media accounts - do they need a check up?

EMAIL

There are over 294 BILLION emails sent every single day!  I know my inbox is often very overwhelming!!  Spring cleaning of your email box might include unsubscribing from company emails you do not even read, cleaning out and removing old emails you do not need to save, and organizing your inbox into a more manageable size!

I find it very handy to use folders to organize my inbox.

Another task you could look at for spring cleaning your email is to make sure that your signature and settings are all updated.

MOBILE DEVICE & APPS

Finally I suggest you take a look through the programs and apps that you have on your computer and phone.  If you have any apps that you no longer use now is a great time to remove them.  You might even save yourself some money!

Digital clutter can take up valuable time, energy, and brain space!  Spring cleaning doesn’t just have to be about cleaning out your old clothes - but can also be relevant ONLINE.

Until next month - please stay safe and healthy.  I’d like to thank Victoria and the team at snapd for being such a powerful source of community information and positivity during these unprecedented times.