Week 5:

Why is it important to be a good digital citizen? What value does a good digital reputation have?

Living in an era in which technology has advanced so rapidly, has advantages.  Human beings have most everything right at their fingertips: no more waiting for the newspaper to check on the news, no more having to drive to the library to help your 7 year old research facts about a tyrannosaurus, and no more mailing those birthday invitations in the mail  (when you can “evite” your friends). As a person interested in arts and crafts, I particularly love that I don’t have to wait each month for my Mailbox magazine – I have Pinterest!

Living in an age wherein there is access to seemingly everything also increases one’s responsibility to be sensitive to the rights and privacy of others. Digital citizenship, therefore, is crucial. I can’t only broadcast my own feelings about others in an instant, I can access others’ information, and even their research, much more easily and rapidly than in previous eras. Thus, I must not only respect one’s thoughts and feelings, but also their work. One form of stealing – plagiarism – is especially rampant in academia, but good digital citizenship means always citing one’s sources when working on an essay, a research paper, or simply engaging in a debate on a social networking site.

As an educator, I am also becoming wary of the increase in what has come to be called “cyber bullying.”  Cyber bullying – which is the art of demeaning, slandering, or even threatening another person through the medium of the internet – is increasingly common in recent years. It is, it seems, even easier to hide behind a computer in the comfort of one’s own home or office and hurt someone’s feelings than it is to “pick on” a vulnerable person in the schoolyard. We need to be respectful of the thoughts and pictures someone sends to us, and we need to be respectful when posting our own thoughts and images.

Stealing someone’s personal identity can be very easy, apparently, since so many people shop online using their credit card, with their paypal account, or use their social security number for activities such as online banking.  However, when someone’s identity is stolen it can be very traumatic and life changing.

Just as a parent says to their young child who is entering school, “treat others they way you want to be treated,” so should internet users consider their citizenship in this way.