Digital Citizenship #4

The internet is a great place for education (someone could replace going to college with Google if they really wanted to and had the drive to do so). Cooking is something that many people feel is difficult and time consuming. On Facebook there are little videos you can watch that teach you how to make a tasty looking dish. https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedtasty/?fref=ts

You can imagine this being done for all sorts of things like fixing things around the house, "life hacks," crafts, and more. These videos teach you how to do things by simply looking up how to videos on the internet.

Not only is it good for teaching you how to fix, do, and make things around the house, but the internet is a great place for learning like you would at a college. I'm in a class that is completely online, which is something that wouldn't have occurred 10 years ago. Students can supplement their schooling with sites like Khan University, TED Talks, Udemy, Coursera, MIT's free online courses, and many many more.

Digital Citizenship #3

Online and digital communication can come from other sources as well, such as movies and video games. Video games especially are important to me. They are a good way to get a message to a large group of people (who don't know they are about to receive an educational lesson) and a good way to connect and talk with people. For example, the game Assassin's Creed takes you through a historical journey in various places and times. I personally got through Western Civ I in high school because of Assassin's Creed. Other games such as Brain Games Academy (which is bluntly made for education and brain puzzlers) was extremely successful at all ages.

A stereotype for people who play video games is that they are very antisocial and have difficulty fitting in with society. Just like most stereotypes, a grain of truth can be found. Since some gamers have trouble fitting in with the people around them, video games are a great way for them to socialize and meet like minded people. The Yogscast (a video game based YouTube channel) all met on a game called World of Warcraft. 7 million plus subscribers later they have made something of themselves all from a video game (https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueXephos).

Digital Citizenship #2

Digital Citizenship #1

Everyone can become a good digital citizen with relative ease. You need to be caring towards others, understand the value of privacy, and know when to step away from the online world.

I see the etiquette of social media to be very similar to how you would act in the physical world. In the real world you wouldn't bash someone for looking different, wouldn't show embarrassing things about other people, and wouldn't yell your problems out in the middle of a crowded mall. So why do that online? Some people feel that since they are behind their computers and cannot see the reactions of others that anything they do has no real repercussions.

For example, face-to-face, being the richest forms of media, gives you the best level of understanding. You can see directly if anyone cares about what you're saying, see how they are affected by your comments, and see how they react to you revealing information about them. Online you cannot see these reactions. If you imagine someone doing what you're about to do to you then you're well on your way to becoming a better person online. The interesting thing about online interactions is that it is basically common sense about being a good person. So if you have that capability no need to change anything! You'll be a fine digital citizen.

If you're interested in learning more about the ethics of social relationships and the impact of social media on our culture then I suggest purchasing Sherry Turkle's "Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age" (http://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-Conversation-Power-Talk-Digital/dp/1594205558).