(Digital) Citizenship
Digital citizenship, to me, means just what it sounds - citizenship in the digital world. Digital citizenship is a type of citizenship, but instead of belonging to a country one belongs to an online community that transcends physical boundaries. T. H. Marshall (1950), a sociologist noted for his work in social citizenship, claimed that citizenship has civil, political, and social components, and citizenship is a term of status granted to full members of a community. When Marshall was studying citizenship, digital citizenship was not within even a few decades of being in existence. Yet, Marshall’s claims of citizenship are not far removed from the modern day.
As the world has progressed, so has the definition of citizenship. According to Ohler (2010), citizenship has various tenets including education, community ties, participation, inclusivity, and moral behavior. At its core, citizenship is being a contributing member to a group of people; it is doing the right thing and following the golden rule. Try putting “digital” in front of each component of citizenship – digital education, digital inclusivity, etc. The definition of citizenship transcends to digital citizenship, but the community is online. Ribble (2015), claims that the term “digital citizenship” exists because of the discrepancy between how people act both offline and online, not always showing understanding and empathy as they hide behind keyboards. The digital world has the same main idea as the physical world - be kind and respectful.
(Image Source: ISTE)
Semantically, the difference between citizenship and digital citizenship is one word. Physically, the difference between citizenship and digital citizenship is location. Realistically, the difference between citizenship and digital citizenship is in the behavior of the citizens. Humans should use empathy and understanding in both the physical and online world, but unfortunately we have such things as cyberbullying, Internet trolls, and online scams. As technology continues to expand, so does the need for proper guidance in digital citizenship. Helping to mold both better citizens and digital citizens will create a better world, offline and online.
References
Marshall, T.H. (1950). Citizenship and social class: and other essays. Cambridge, MA: University Press.
Ohler, J. (2010). Digital community: Digital citizen. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (3rd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
