9 Fundamental Elements of Digital citizenship

What it is?

A digital citizen is a person using information technology (IT) to engage in society, politics, and government. Another definition proposed is persons who use the Internet frequently and well.

The nine fundamentals of digital citizenship are:

1.       Digital access: in order to use the internet, a person needs to be able to connect to it. The digital divide is a term that represents the gap between persons with internet access and those without.

In Trinidad and Tobago, there are 3 major fixed-line ISPs and to major ISP’s that offer mobile data.

2.       Digital commerce: is the ability for users to conduct business transactions online. There may be various challenges involved depending on the countries of the parties involved.

A popular concern among these users are credit card theft/fraud but there also dangerous activities such as pornography, gambling and so forth.

3.       Digital communication: there exist many tools to communicate with online. Email (Gmail, Outlook etc.), instant messaging (WhatsApp, Snapchat etc.) and Social media (Facebook, Twitter).

4.       Digital literacy: Is the ability to use digital devices properly. In Trinidad and Tobago, NALIS may have run some Digital Literacy class for the public. It is a worthwhile investment to be able to use digital devices.

Parents should be encouraged to learn how to use it to relate to their kids. This gives parents the opportunity to reinforce family values.

5.       Digital etiquette: this refers to a user’s behaviour online. There are particular expectations in how certain tools are used. Some tools will require more appropriate behaviour and language than others. For example an email may be more formal than an instant message.

6.       Digital law: This involves legal enforcement activities for various illegal or unethical activities: cyber-bullying, hacking, or identity theft to name a few.

7.       Digital rights and responsibilities: there is the expectation that the same rights persons have offline, they have online as well. There are contentions on whether the technology is a separate right or an enabler of existing rights. Now, laws need to be updated to reflect the original spirit of the law online. Two major issues are privacy and speech.

8.       Digital health: Users should be aware of the effects of internet use on their body. There are many health related issues with poor internet use and its common behaviours, like sitting too much. See limit screen time.

9.       Digital security: this means users should employ safe digital practices. It involves things like using hard to guess passwords and not using one password for more than one site.  Enabling anti-virus software and regularly running updates. See more here. 

Which fundamental element of Digital Citizenship are you weak in? Why do you think so?