#esfafe

The power of the digital citizenship, and by extension the digital community, over the physical world is a topic that sparks particular interest in me. The notion that social media is a tool that continues to demonstrate its ability to challenge the concepts of time, space and place. It would appear that as the capabilities of different platforms increases, so too does their hold over their audience. The question that this raise to me, is with more young people joining social media sites each day, how do we teach them to not only stay away from the bad aspects of social media, but equally as important, how to embrace the good?

A good digital citizen is defined by Office of the eSafety Commissioner, NSW Department of Education as ‘a person with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital technologies in a positive way to participate in society, communicate with others, and create and consume digital content.’ It would appear that by this definition to be a ‘good’ member of the digital community, your intentions must good too. Meaning that when you engage in social media, there is a what you put in is what you get back out. Those who start arguments will undoubtedly receive their fair share of criticism and the more kindness you share to other people, the more likely someone is to spread some back.

In terms of driving realistic, political change, social media can be an incredible tool for holding our politicians accountable to their policies. And GetUp!’s video describing the change we helped them create to real change through our interaction and support over social medias (GetUp!, 2017). They assure too that the best way the digital citizen can create change is by simply making their voice heard, a task that the digital citizen finds even easier through the use of hashtags, in particular #auspol.

Finally, I’d like to share a quote from Albert Schweitzer I’ve grown quite fond of, which I believe is also a good ethos to live your digital life by, which goes, “happiness is the only thing that doubles when it’s shared.”