Digital Footprints in Academic Life: A Phenomenological Exploration across Disciplinary Contexts

As digitalization increases, questions surrounding personal visibility, control, and digital citizenship have become increasingly relevant, particularly for young people navigating online environments. University students, as active users of digital platforms, frequently encounter such challenges as they shape their identities and manage their presence online. This study examines how students in Türkiye interact with digital platforms and how they deal with the complexities of their online footprints within academic life, drawing on a phenomenological design. The data were collected through focus group discussions involving 21 students from three faculties -Engineering, Communication, and Economics and Administrative Sciences- and were analyzed using MAXQDA-24. The findings reveal significant differences in how students perceive and manage their digital assets. Communication students place particular emphasis on self-presentation and online reputation, while engineering students focus more on technical issues and data security. Economics students, in contrast, adopted a more pragmatic and risk-tolerant approach. These results highlight the need for context-sensitive approaches to digital literacy and provide guidance for future comparative studies involving diverse student groups.