Digital Awareness and netiquette
Theme II: societal implications
by Michael X. Yue
July 08, 2020
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societaL SIGNIFICANCE OF DIGITAL AWARENESS AND NETIQUETTE
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If you are reading this, you are again connected to the internet! Last week, in my first blog, "Why is Digital Citizenship is so Important?" I explored the concept of digital citizenship, the internet, and digital relevancy. Most likely you have a social media account - Facebook, Snapchat, Youtube, Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram? Maybe you are even an active participant on one of these social media platforms - I know I am! All of these digital accounts are digital projections of your personal identity - our digital identifies. Do you use a pseudonym to hide your real name? Do you portray yourself as someone who you are not? Are living a dualism life between the digital world and the real world? Regardless of your personal autonomy, it is important to understand the virtues of meaningful netiquette, where netiquette is the combination of the (inter)net and etiquette.
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In a world that is digitally interwoven and interconnected by the physical wires of the internet, we have the unique opportunity to use, interact, and build upon this recent phenomena. However, like with any opportunity, there comes with great responsibility - this also applies to the World Wide Web (WWW). In the past decade, as Canada become increasingly digital, I have noticed the paradigm shift of social behaviour to phase from the physical to the digital. It is a good reminder to stay mindful, woke, reflective, and holistic to the personal, social, cultural, environmental, and digital dimensions of life.
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In the video below, the story highlights the disconnect between the human experience and the (anti)social immersion of digital technology.
Cultural netiquette
In the video above, it shows the common reality of netiquette in western, developed countries, where public netiquette is often autonomous to the user, as long as it is not disruptive in nature. In some countries, public netiquette is perceived much differently. In Japan for example, using your phone on the public trains is often perceived as rude manners, especially to the older generation.
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Commonly, when the term netiquette is used, it is based on the the book, Netiquette (1994), by Shea Virginia. In this book, she identified 10 cores rules to abide by to practice good netiquette.
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Figure 1. A summary the 10 Core Rules of Netiquette, based on the work of Shea Virginia (1994).
Mr. Yue's netiquette
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Even though these are the 10 core principles of netiquette, my Five 4RP Netiquette Principles (in my classroom) are:
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1) Be Respectful
2) Be Reflective
3) Be Responsible
4) Be Resilient
5) Be Professional
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I have generalized the core principles of netiquette to five succinct concepts as they will be easier for students to remember. In addition, these holistic concepts are empathetic in nature that is proactive in nature than reactive in nature.
blind spot & disconnect
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Based on Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel's book, Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It (2012), blind spots are considered unconscious, naive, and unintentional. In contrast, the term, disconnect is often associated with the consciousness of mindful actions. In publication of Disconnected: Youth, New Media, and the Ethics Gap James (2014), from Carrie James, she emphasizes the dichotomy between the two terms, blind spot and disconnect. She also believe that these two phenomena are important for character education and digital identity.
Maybe to more conscious of our actions, we must be more reflective in who we are (for character development). Should we become lost to be found?
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REFERENCES
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Bazerman, M. H., & Tenbrunsel, A. E. (2012). Blind spots: Why we fail to do what's right and what to do about it. Princeton University Press.
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James, C. (2014). Disconnected: Youth, new media, and the ethics gap. MIT Press.
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Shea, V., & Shea, C. (1994). Netiquette. Albion Books.