A Perspective on Digital Citizenship
As we stand at the brink of an exponential age heralded by the fourth industrial revolution, it is only logical to reminisce, time and again, the nostalgic journey that precedes this era of digital grandiose and ironically enough, incomparable stress about one’s safety and security online. Not only has the rise of technology, especially the internet, been a rather steep slope, but the sudden emergence of such automation in our daily lives has led to apprehensions regarding the role technology should play in relation to human abilities. Therefore, it becomes crucial to understand the concept of digital citizenship to exercise such control and discretion over how much or how little technology one would want to incorporate into their life while being digitally healthy.
This article attempts to establish a thorough analysis of this topic area by attempting to decipher a clear meaning of digital citizenship. Next, we understand the role of digital leaders in terms of making others aware of what digital citizenship entails for them following which, an effort is directed towards establishing an analogy between the values of the online world and the offline world. Furthermore, we list the various elements of digital citizenship under the broad categories of health, inclusivity, ethicality, safety and opportunity generation. The last section aims to look at the online world in a positive light while figuring out the things that lie ahead of us.
The Digital Flag was designed in the Centenary of Canberra, Australia. It was designed as a symbol of peace and the defence of humanitarian values for world wide web citizens.
Credits: Peter Bishop
What is Digital Citizenship?
On the very basic level, digital citizenship begins with one’s inclusion into the digital society by virtue of their conscious choice to make use of technology in the form of gadgets, the internet and the like. With this participation in the realm of tech, comes the realization that certain rights, as well as responsibilities, should govern this engagement for the mutual benefit of the digital society as well as the digital citizen existing within it. Therefore, digital citizenship refers to the healthy use of technology by an individual in an active and respectful manner.
When certain individuals in the said digital society choose to not abide by these principles and laws that have been established to ensure a crime-free functioning of the society, they make fellow citizens vulnerable to risks. Consequently, it becomes important to build literacy around the rights and responsibilities that fall under the purview of this citizenship. This refers to educating individuals about digital etiquette, e-commerce, governmental laws and their digital wellness so that they are in a position to make informed decisions while maintaining a healthy relationship with technology. This is also intended to lead to mindfulness with regard to one’s digital footprint so that they do not leave behind a suspicious trail of digital activities on the internet.
Digital Leadership
When one tries to understand digital citizenship in a simplistic manner, it makes sense to draw a clear analogy between what the word ‘citizenship’ entails in the offline and the online world. On deeper reflection, it comes to light that the very idea of citizenship is entrenched in establishing a sense of belongingness between the individual and the ecosystem they exist in. Whether it is the digital world or an entire nation, there are political, social as well as commercial aspects to it. Since the concept of society and economy exists in both these spaces, it is important to look at the ideas of literacy, conduct, rights, responsibilities opportunities, security and commerce in both these worlds. For instance, even though e-commerce functions very differently in comparison to the buying and selling of commodities in an offline setting, the basic financial principles stay the same.
What citizenship also suggests is the existence of certain individuals who can shoulder the responsibility of making others aware of the same and contribute towards a better organization of society. This is what digital leadership is all about.
The above statistics are quite indicative of how widespread the digital population is, in terms of internet and social media users. When one begins to think about the number of people that use some sort of digital technology or equipment, the set would roughly be similar to the entire global population. With this interpellation into technology comes the risk of unethical cyber activities. The next section shall address the different aspects of digital citizenship in a step-by-step manner, attempting to effectively dissect the concept for you and enable you to leverage your knowledge and rights in a better manner.
Characteristics of Digital Citizenship
Inclusivity
The foundation of responsible digital citizenship begins with digital literacy. This refers to the process and ability to unlearn conventional ways of communication, working and living while growing and re-learning in tandem with the constantly developing digital technologies. While the knowledge of such contemporary phenomena enables one to use gadgets and services efficiently, it also gives them the power and authority to employ their own discretion in reaching a point of balance with the level of technological intrusion they want in their daily lives. In addition, they can learn to take responsibility for their digital footprint and critically analyse their online behaviour. For instance, someone who is aware of the negative impacts of screen time shall be able to set personal boundaries or screen-time alerts in order to limit the same.
Opportunity Generation
The change-making potential of social media is hardly a surprising area of discussion. From major political movements such as the Arab Spring to building awareness and support for George Floyd and his experiences, social media has played a consequential role in terms of garnering youth involvement in the change-making process of society. Even during the years of the pandemic, the digital world seemed like a safe and free space for people to interact, form communities and support each other. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that social media has succeeded in providing a voice to the commoner.
On the level of the economy, the digital world has undoubtedly shaped the demand and supply processes in the world. In fact, one would invariably think about a whole new digital economy that exists in parallel to the national economy. Most importantly though, this has made a plethora of services and products accessible at our doorstep. E-commerce has diversified immensely in the last few years. As lucrative as this sounds, the realm is not devoid of the not-so-good individuals and companies willing to fraud citizens and entrepreneurs. For this reason, one needs to possess the knowledge to differentiate a trustworthy brand from one that is not reliable.
Even in the field of entertainment, the newly developing technologies have been able to almost completely change the face of consumption and production of media. While the pandemic caused people to think about ways to create media even in the deprivation of shared physical space, videography and sound direction techniques have also changed on the foundational level over the course of years.
Safety
This provides us with a segway to discuss the element of rights and responsibilities that underlie the idea of digital citizenship. While one has every right to contest cyber crimes such as breach of data, bullying or fraud, it is also their responsibility to not engage in any form of misconduct online. Even though several nations in the world still lack effective redressal mechanisms for someone on the receiving end of cybercrime, we are sure to get there through persistent efforts.
As far as digital laws on the national and international levels are concerned, the deliberation over the same has been in place since 1996. To date, international cyberspace lacks a proper set of rules and regulations with the exceptions of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and the not-yet-in-order African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection. In India, cyber crimes are covered by the Information Technology Act, 2020 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Ethicality
Oftentimes, malicious software is designed to create damage to computers, important data and client networks. This malware is mostly targetted in nature and aims to wreak havoc on national security. Therefore, a good digital security setup is extremely crucial for nations and organizations. Phishing, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and credential abuse are the few ways in which ransomware gets into the servers.
Another aspect to think about when one ponders upon the ethical aspects of digital wellness is the idea of attention economics and its treatment of human attention span as a scarce commodity. An extremely significant example of the same happens to be the display of advertisements on streaming platforms such as Spotify and youtube. The primary intention behind the content then becomes holding the viewer’s focus rather than being intellectually rewarding. This is equivalent to prioritizing the time spent by the user on a platform instead of time well-spent. Since a large number of digital citizens tend to be unaware of these tactics masked under the garb of marketing, it is possible to look at it through the lens of ethicality.
Holistic Well-being
This leads us to the next element that constitutes its roots in the idea of responsible action and respect for the privacy and mental health of fellow digital citizens. Digital etiquette or online etiquette refers to an implied set of codes that incorporates the basic human values of decency, kindness and politeness. This ensures that the receiver of a comment/ action is not offended by it. This element also allows us to look at the digital world as an extension of the human world, with a slight modification of the same core values. For instance, muting yourself on a video-calling application while someone else finishes their input could be a way to ensure that they do not feel distracted or disrespected. Using the Raise Hand feature on Zoom Meeting and Teams could be a good way to interject. This is very similar to what would be regarded as ‘courteous behaviour’ in our day-to-day offline lives.
Having carefully curated through all these aspects, we look at the one overarching element that requires due consideration at every point. Digital wellness refers to the pursuit of a symbiotic and healthy relationship with technology. An example of it could be muting notifications on one’s gadgets for specific hours during the day in order to reduce strain on the eyes as well as the mind. Such a healthy relationship can be analysed through the varied lenses of digital etiquette, digital security and all the other elements specified above. Since digital wellness occupies such a central consideration, it is only fair that it is placed at the core of everything.
What is the Way Forward
Having understood all the elements that occupy a role in the life of a digital citizen, it becomes clear to us that there is no looking back when it comes to technological progress. The world is progressing at a highly fast pace and we must modify our ways of living in order to align with the needs of contemporary times. Building knowledge about click baits, the rise of fake news and the effects of digitization on mental health are a few areas that one can begin with and then proceed to take relevant action. While digital citizenship might be a tricky and novel sphere, it is possible to figure our way around it with constant consideration for our digital wellness.
-Navya Malhotra & Rijul Arora
