Running head: BREAKDOWN OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 1

A BREAKDOWN OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

Robert Joseph Horn M.Ed.

Lamar University

Fall 2019
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A Breakdown of Digital Citizenship

We are all citizens of this world. Until recently most people’s actions and interaction

with the world only affected the area they interacted with normally. Yes, some higher profile

people could influence the world on a global scale, but this was not normally just anyone. As the

digital age has progressed, and access to the internet has increased, citizenship has transferred

from a local or national idea, to a global standard. Where people would have local and national

laws to govern them, the digital age has led to the need for protection of people, cultures, and

ideas on a global scale since boarders and boundaries have become non-existent is some cases.

In this new digital citizen role, we are bound to follow a code of conduct just as we do to be a

good citizen in our local community. Nine guiding principles were developed to ensure each

citizens right were upheld, maintained, and protected. It is a sort of bill of rights for the internet.

These nine principles, while vague, in nature become quickly defined as you look deeper into

their meaning. Ribble (2015) broke these nine principles into groups that work together and

connect to understand the deeper connection and overall meaning of good digital citizenship.

Respect yourself and others

The first group of principles are those that deal with respecting yourself and respecting

others. Too often we see people saying things online or digitally with the idea there will be no

repercussions for their actions. This group of ideas begin to try to quell those type of interaction.

The first of the three principles included is etiquette, or how you directly treat others online.

When coming face to face with someone on the street, you do not walk up for your first

interaction screaming in their face. This happens regularly in the digital world. People, who

know nothing of the other person, will quickly revert to name calling, threats, and screaming

(typing in all caps) to try and intimidate and make a point. Just with all of the principles covered
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in this group, that is not how real world interaction would work. Etiquette ensures that civil

interactions and respect is given to all involved.

Right along with this principle is the next which is law. Just as we have laws to protect

our citizens in today’s society, there is a need for laws to protect digital citizens as well. The

threats mentioned above can translate to real world prosecution for threats. Laws are still

governed by the local area in which they occur, but more laws are being created daily to help

protect the digital citizen of today. Our job as digital citizens is to follow the laws of the land,

and the digital world. Again, people often feel that because they are far away on a keyboard they

are not committing a crime, or will be caught. Not being caught seems more of the driving force

of digital crime than distance. A digital crime can be committed by your next door neighbor.

Both of these principles are a responsibility of every digital citizen to make sure everything

being put into the digital world, is being respectful to themselves and others by making sure it is

something that would be acceptable in the physical world, as well as the digital world.

Access is also in this group. Access refers to the access people have to digital

information (Riddle, 2015). This serves two ideas. Striving to get digital access to everyone in

need of it, and to make sure those who do not have it have access to an alternative. A great

example of alternatives, is forms for governmental agencies. In most cases today, people can

quickly go online and fill out a form, their taxes, or appeal a decision for a multitude of things

from home, or anywhere they can gain digital access. It is everyone’s responsibility to continue

to offer non-digital forms to citizens who do not have digital access. The other part of access is

giving digital access to those who wish to have it. Now, this does not mean free internet. It

means to not restrict digital access to the citizen. Some countries, such as North Korea, restrict

access to the internet to virtually nothing. Others, such as Japan, heavily censor what is accessed
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in their country. The idea is access for everyone, and as digital citizens, we should respect each

other enough to do what is right with the information we obtain.

This group of principles are about the giving of respect. That is the first part of being a

good citizen, digital or not. If everyone were to respect themselves and other users of the digital

world, we would have a better physical and digital society, but human nature gets in the way.

Our need to be right, have power, and give in to temptations makes this a true struggle.

Educate yourself and others

The next group of principles relate to educating yourself and others. AS the digital world

changes daily so should the way we learn about it. Where learning was focused on lecture and

test in the past, it has become much more informal through digital access. College courses are

now online. There is a path now that would allow a student to start online classes in elementary

school and eventually earn a doctoral degree, but they never have to step on a campus. On a less

formal note, people can expand their abilities with site like youfixit and youtube to educate

themselves on information once thought to hard for the average person to do. We live in a

changing world of empowerment through digital information, but we must focus on how we and

others learn about and use this information.

Digital literacy is the first foundation of digital education. The more you understand how

to use something the better you become at using it more and more. If we teach the proper use of

information and access to digital information, people are more likely to use it accordingly. If a

tool is given, but then never expanded upon for use, it becomes a tool of interpretation. A

hammer quickly become a screw banger, or a welding machine becomes a melting machine.

Digital tools are the same. Citizens can be handed great tools with life changing potential, but

without literacy they are useless. This leads directly into the principle of communication. How
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the information is shared matters too? If everyone thinks a computer is only for accessing social

media, and then they spend hours in a library doing research by hand, are they hearing the

communication being presented online to them about digital research? No, but as digital citizens

we must work together to ensure information is available and shared with everyone to allow

them to improve their access and knowledge. Will this reach everyone? No, there are those

reluctant to change, or who will just not care. If we continue to push onward though, those type

people will become fewer and fewer.

Also included in this subset is commerce. How are we protecting ourselves and others

who shop, bank, and do business online? We see information about data breaches online all the

time. Many of us have had our credit card information compromised online. That relates to

safety and security, laws, and welfare, but we as citizens have a responsibility to do our best to

protect everyone from this before it gets to that point. Educating everyone, no matter their age,

on proper online tendencies with financial information, digital purchases, and how to spot a

problem is important information to help protect themselves.

Protect yourself and others

The last set of principles in a sub group is those that lead to protection of yourself and

others. This is a group that is becoming at the forefront of digital citizenship. The first, and

probably most important of all of these principles, is rights and responsibilities. Each person is

granted rights online, but also responsibilities. These are grated with the understanding the

person will do what is proper with them. As digital citizens we are expected to do what is right

with the power we are given. Too often we give this power to children. These children do not

possess enough maturity to handle these responsibilities. This can lead to improper use,

improper etiquette, and even things like cyberbullying. This can also be said for some adults
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who do not show this maturity. Though it is a case by case basis, each citizen is expected to

fulfill these ideas. The final two principles go hand in hand with this as well. Security and

health and welfare. Protecting each other and ourselves is the most important part of the digital

age. Conversely, from the first principles of respect, we must protect those who cannot protect

themselves and firstly ourselves. Health and welfare is huge in the digital world. Again,

cyberbullying is increasing annually, and more and more people do not know how to deal with it.

People, not only children, are struggling to stop people from causing the emotional and

psychological pain online.

Along with the health and wellness aspect, we must protect with security of our property

and person. Too often online predators are able to extort everything from money to physical

contact from people. Scams and attacks are on the rise. Human trafficking through social dating

sites and social media is rampant. Children are even being targeted while playing video games.

This is a principle that has to be tied to education. We must educate the public to be aware of

these type of attacks, and arm them with ways to protect themselves.

So how do we determine which of these principles is more important than others? We

cannot. They are so interdependent none can be removed without overlooking another piece of

our digital responsibility. Security is important, but it must rely on education to protect. Laws

are important, but without teaching safety, there would be more illegal activity each citizen might

fall for. Overall we must know and understand all of these principles to strive to be better for our

digital society, the future birth digitally and physically, and ourselves and others in this changing

world.
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References

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should

know (3rd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education