Global Digital Citizenship Post #2

Growing up, I've always been aware of etiquette and how to act, how to treat people, in real life. Never before did I think that one's presence could be different from real life to cyberspace and the concept is, admittedly, a bit mind-blowing. There's something about being online that makes it easy to suddenly be something - someone - else and never having anyone find out. That being said, online beings can be widely different and because of it, the etiquette and interactions online can suddenly change. In person interactions can be difficult, with tone of voice and facial expressions creating a line between sarcasm, jest, or seriousness but online, those qualities are lacking. In turn, this could make online social interactions even harder.

Now, upon hearing the term "digital etiquette" the first thing that came to mind was formality. Etiquette? Digital etiquette? Should I be sipping tea and wear a monocle when browsing Pinterest? So, maybe that formal. Instead of being formal, I figured that digital etiquette merely refers to the behavior one should show even online. In other words, digital etiquette could be considered a set of rules that makes the Internet a better place for others and for yourself. I feel as though this post will go hand-in-hand with the previous blog post; while I wrote a lot of helping students to avoid the dangers of being online, it's important to also mention how not to act online. I'm an incredibly firm believer in "honesty is the best policy" (I'm a terrible liar with a guilty conscious) and that still holds true when it comes to how people act online. I don't mean posting flattering selfies that look nothing like you, of course, but instead, being honest of who you are. Don't try to convince someone that you go to Harvard and that you already have a position locked at NASA. Just be honest because it could - and probably will - bite you in the rear.

On a similar note as digital etiquette, I think of responsibility and when I think about responsibility I cry
I think of holding myself accountable for my actions. I feel like a lot of people struggle with this in real life and don't hesitate to point fingers or to attempt to put the blame on someone else. That being said, I think that it's important to just be honest and hold yourself accountable should anything go wrong. Not that it should, because if someone was being honest, it really shouldn't go awry...food for thought.