What Is digital citizenship will be discussed in this article. As a term more widely used to describe a person’s affiliation with a country, citizenship carries obligations as well as rights. For instance, citizens of democracies are entitled to representation, but they also have an obligation to cast a ballot. Along with paying taxes, citizens of the United States are also required to serve on juries when called upon. To mention a few, some rights are the freedom of speech, the right to an unjustified search and seizure, and the right to criticize the government.
What Is digital citizenship? Complete Guide
In this article, you can know about What Is digital citizenship here are the details below;
What does it mean to be a digital citizen, therefore, given that the digital world is borderless and that we are not supposed to be loyal to any one country or leader? Expanding upon the notion of the physical world, let us examine certain entitlements and obligations associated with digital citizenship.
Rights of digital citizenship
According to Avast, a person with access to digital technology and rights to privacy, security, and freedom is referred to as a digital citizen.
As an internet user, you are entitled to:
- Gain access to the internet
- Confidentiality
- Data security
- Expression without restriction
- Communication freedom
- taking responsibility for your own identity
- informed consent for the use of your information
- Be lost in memory
- Privacy
- not be targeted by phishing, hackers, or spies
Responsibilities of digital citizenship
You have an obligation as a digital citizen to:
- Be courteous in your communication, even if you disagree.
- Refuse to spread incorrect information
- Honor other people’s intellectual property rights.
- not divulge other people’s private or personal information
- not access computer networks without authorization
- Recognize the information that shouldn’t be revealed.
- Keep your passwords and logins secure.
As you can see, being a good digital citizen requires many of the same skills as being a good citizen of your country: Show consideration. Avoid stealing. Observe your fellow countrymen. Know your surroundings, including how to keep others and yourself safe. And when our rights are violated, hold your “government”—tech corporations like those who supply our technology and online services like social media—responsible.
Why is digital citizenship important?
The amount of time we spend online is growing, and as a result, the digital world has surpassed the importance of the physical places we live. The phrase “in real life” (IRL), which was first used online in the 1990s and early 2000s to refer to anything that occurred offline, is simply out of date. And the youngest among us will be spending an even larger percentage of their lives online if current trends continue.
Digital citizenship is crucial because of this. We all need to learn how to be good digital citizens, just as we all need to learn how to be good citizens of our countries—both formally from authorities and indirectly by living in society.
Digital citizenship is crucial for both small- and large-scale reasons. Micro-level: Our mental health may be impacted in a significant and long-lasting way by the interpersonal interactions we have online, whether they take place in comment sections, messaging apps, or online communities on social media. Negative interactions can increase our stress reactions and have a detrimental impact on our mental and physical health since our brains aren’t matured enough to distinguish the emotional differences between those we face online and those we face in the “real world.” Also check Digital Commerce
Globally speaking, current events show how digital citizenship may directly affect physical citizenship in both positive and harmful ways. For instance, Twitter played a critical role in facilitating activists’ rapid and widespread communication during the 2011 Arab Spring revolt. Facebook, however, has played a significant role in the dissemination of misinformation, which has had a detrimental impact on a number of events, including the US elections and the genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Stated differently, real life is online. And it’s essential that everyone of us handles it appropriately.
Key digital citizenship facts
- Online privacy is both a digital and a human right, with 4.8 billion people (or 61% of the world’s population) using it every day. Approximately 700,000 new users join the internet every day.
- Our primary digital responsibilities, in the absence of a government, are to other digital citizens.
- Every day, less and less separates the “real” world from the digital one.
- The views of various countries regarding the obligations and privileges of digital citizenship vary.
Digital citizenship lessons for kids
Many schools already include digital citizenship in their curricula, while others still need to catch up. Here are some excellent tools for parents & educators to help kids become better digital citizens, regardless of the stance taken by your child’s school.
The TeachThought educators have provided a concise and fairly scholarly definition of digital citizenship, titled “The Definition of Digital Citizenship.”
For young people, the “rules” of digital citizenship are broken down clearly in the printable infographic 9 Rules For Digital Citizenship.
ISTE has a landing page with materials on teaching digital citizenship in the classroom called “Digital Citizenship in Education.” Also check Digital Marketing Techniques for Small Businesses
The “9 Key Ps” of digital citizenship are outlined in the book What Your Students Really Need to Know About Digital Citizenship by academic Vicki Davis.
Common Sense Education offers free, thorough digital citizenship lessons for grades K–12, titled Everything You Need to Know to Teach Digital Citizenship.
John Perry Barlow, the inventor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), wrote a landmark document titled A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.