Did you know your generation has earned the title of 'Netizen' of 'Digital Native'?
In a nutshell this refers to the fact that you have no concept of life with out the internet. Or at least life with out the freedom to access the internet...
Think about that? How old were you when you first went online?
- Have you experienced the debate over ethics of downloading music, movies and games?
- How many devices that you own provide access to services such as Netflix, GooglePlay, iTunes, AppleTv?
- If you really needed to access the internet, how many different ways could you connect?
- The truth is you have the power and potential to interact with, literally, hundreds of people from all over the world, in seconds.
My generations grew up WITH the internet, but you are growing up ON the internet.
- My first cell-phone I purchased 2-years after graduating highschool.
- It had a green screen
- T9 typing - a terrible abomination
- It flipped open, like a boss.
- Video games in 32mb and later 64mb graphics were awesome. No online gaming, 4P (Max) vs. IA, all day. No LANing. No MLG. No Fun.
- Taking courses such as AICT and Computer Sciences taught me things like; routing a dail-up internet connection - a practice that was imediately replicated at home on our painfully slow Pentium 386.
- We rented movies, from a movie store, for $1.50 - and paid fortunes in late charges.
You and I come from very different technological backgrounds. You have access to tools and abilities, that dwarf where I was in highschool.
As Uncle Ben from Spiderman once said...
"With great power, comes greater responsibilty."
Nevertheless, the world we share online is exactly the same. Therefore, our personal online code of ethics is important to ensure a safe and productive environment for all.
This post is geared towards defining what are online ethics, and how we can act as posotive digital citizens in the 21st Century.
What are Online Ethics & Digital Citizenship?
Online Ethics refers to...
"patterns of behavior when on the internet, guided both by law, and philosophy." source
Digital Citizenship refers to...
"the norms of appropriate, and responsible technology use." source
Current Online Ethical issues include:
- Digital Footprint - Have you ever googled your Name? say hello to your digital footprint my friend. If you posted it, google sees it, and so might your future employer! Believe it. Pay attention to what you are leaving behind.
- Think before you post - Online choices, have Offline consequences. Sometimes these consequences are extreme and permanently damage the life of another, other times the consequence reflects on you as an individual.
- Personal Identification - It is always wise to withhold personal information. Also, you are not obligated to follow everything with a heart beat, stick to friends and family. It is never smart to place your personal contact info for the world to see.
- Cyber Bullying - the prevalence of the internet has created a new breed of 'hater.' Trolls. Cyber Bullyies. However you want to call them, they are empowered by the anonymity of bullying online. They do not see the effect their words have on their victims. Unlike, traditional bullying where the effects are real, they are seen. The effects of a cyber bully often go unnoticed - and sometimes this can result in lasting damage to the victim, their family and their friends.
A general cited code of online ethics is to act in the same manner online, as is acceptable in other areas of life. i.e grocery shopping, in a job interview, at grandma's, while looking after younger siblings etc.
The issue of online ethics dates back to Plato's famous "parable of the ring" which asked if a person had the capability to become invisible and therby get away with anything, would it be right to use the capability?"
Something to think about.
Friday's Tasks (May 31st, 2013):
- Post a link to your blog here.
- Create a header / description
- Design / Edit / Modify a Template
!!SEE ME FOR MISSING / PASS DUE ASSIGNMENTS!!
- Mr. P
No comments:
Post a Comment