TED BuRSA COLLEGE / 8-B
Digital Citizenship : Our Future ?
Kerem BaYÜLGEN
60
Topics such as Digital Citizenship have been a point of debate for quite a while now- especially with the rise of cryptocurrencies , the sale of digital goods , and the more wide-reaching forms of media such as social media , where your nationality doesn ’ t matter , while the content you view does . A “ Digital Citizen ” can be defined as being someone who uses the Internet to browse through websites and digital content that is available worldwide . And that is exactly the topic I ’ ll be discussing and writing about in this essay , and the general feasibility of such a concept , not being separated by region or nationality , coming together to form a “ web ” of people in the form of the Internet .
But is this a viable concept ? Can people truly be united under the Internet ? These are questions many people have asked about , and the answers can vary because at the core of this concept are people . There are far fewer consequences of what you do on the Internet than in real life , your actions being mostly being behind a user name . This , however , has been changing in the past few years with governments taking more control of the Internet , as there have been developments in tracking technology . Is this truly enough for online regulation though ?
Being a Digital Citizenship is something people might not be able to accept as well- as the Internet can be seen as a place to escape from real-life law , and turning it into a place with governors at the top can be seen as a step backward by many . What people do not realize though , is that we are already heading into a digital future where the gap between online and “ real life ” is narrow .
That is why I think people are looking at digital citizenship from a wrong perspective assuming that it is being an individual inside the Internet when that isn ’ t the case . It ’ s as simple as a way of making people act like they do when they are talking to an individual in person , in both etiquette and responsibility . That is why educating people about Digital Citizenship is important , as they are still interacting with actual people , and can affect them the same way or even more .
To conclude , being a digital citizen is often misunderstood or falsely explained , while it just means that a person is acting responsibly online , using online marketplaces , and following guidelines . However , the concept of regulated Internet might not catch on , and has fair points against it , mostly revolving around privacy , but time will tell .