A New World and how we must learn to live in it
Introduction
With the rise of digital technologies like the internet, artificial intelligence, social media, and the internet of things we see how the wheels of society have been disrupted. This has given a rise to a generation of digital natives who have never seen life without such a heavy digital involvement. The intensity of this digital impact is so great that according to Statista, there are more than 4.89 billion people using social media every day with Youtube alone amassing over a 1 billion hours as a source of information, entertainment or a means of everyday life. As a result, it has produced certain implications such as the way people engage and are identified in the digital world, the ethical responsibilities and privacy of individuals throughout this.
Are you really who you claim you are?
What we do, how we act, what we speak all form who we are. With people sharing views, interacting with one another online, all while cookies generate data on them a digital persona is formed. This identity in turn affects their digital perception and potentially affects relationships, professional opportunities along with their reputation. A good side of this is how socially anxious people are able to access a medium to express themselves with other likeminded individuals, connect and display only parts they choose in a controlled manner to overcome the hesitance of interacting with others which might be impossible otherwise. This connectedness according to my peer Jagoda is something now a part of our digital reality.
However, when it is almost impossible to delete our digital footprint, it leaves risky implications that tend to follow throughout life. People get caught up with their online image to the point where it takes over their mental wellbeing and removes them from reality which as a consequence makes them prone to online abuse with almost 7 in 10 young people already a victim to it at some point.
Influencers with highly polished and edited digital identities have a big role in painting this false reality which propagates unethical and unrealistic beauty standards making people lose self-esteem along the way or feel inadequate in themselves.
Moreover there is a possibility of digital discrimination with employers or social connections forming opinions about someone based solely on their online presence, without giving their credentials or character due consideration. As a result, those individuals who exhibit themselves online in a socially improper manner may experience unfair treatment or lose out on opportunities.
Even though according to Stephen there is a misconception on the control people have over their digital identity I believe all is not lost as there are still steps people can take like updating their privacy settings or reducing accounts to only necessary ones among others to limit the formation of their digital identity beyond what they would consent to. There is a dire need for being aware of the threats that come with having a digital identity and understanding how to utilise it in a genuine, respectful, ethical and secure manner.
Is our information really private?
A rise of technological use in everyday life has ignited the problem of privacy of individuals being compromised unknowingly through platforms like search engines, social media companies or internet of things collecting data on behaviour, patterns and activity. Cisco’s Annual Internet Report showcases that there will be nearly 30 billion network connected devices with IoT devices accounting for 50% (14.7B) alone by 2023. The quantity of personal data collected and exchanged online has significantly increased as a result of the exponential expansion in the usage of digital devices and services. Every connected individual is leaving behind a digital footprint that is being monitored and followed. According to Jacob Silverman, in the past government and companies were only able to collect limited information, but now the internet of things has completely changed leading to surveillance capitalism and subsequent monetization of personal data raising ethical concerns. On a government scale this could be good to a certain extent in terms of crime prevention such as human trafficking or terrorism or maintaining social order through predicting any patterns of social unrest.
Online activity can also provide valuable insight into our personality and preferences allowing users to benefit from businesses providing personalized content, targeted advertising or entertainment. However, it opens an opportunity for businesses and the state to use data for targeting and profiling leading to discrimination and takes away the fundamental liberty of human beings to choose what they want to reveal. An example of this has been of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica where data on 87 million users was taken without consent to target them with personal political advertisement or of Tiktok being called out for mining sensitive data like biometric prints and browsing history outside of app making it possible for the Chinese government to access it. Even if these were met with severe backlash such as Facebook being fined 5 Billion USD, it showed how easily accessible our lives were.
In my opinion to avoid such problems a good practice is to use platforms committed to protecting data such as Signal as well adopting ways where do not share sensitive information over social media to prevent it from reaching harmful hands.
Conclusion
The internet and digital society are here to stay. One can never measure the extent to whether it has been truly beneficial or harmful due to the rapid nature with which we see ourselves and the world adapting. However, I believe that by understanding its effects and holding onto values of being ethically responsible digital citizens who are conscious of their digital image and information leakage and critically analyse information as it comes their way, as well as for companies being more social responsible, accountable and transparent in their business dealings we can minimize the harms and truly benefit from it.
Reflection
Throughout the course of this unit I was exposed to numerous ideas which aided my personal growth and challenged me intellectually. Being someone who has lived in the era of a digitally native society I have used technology in all parts of life, however by exploring themes like the Internet I was able to look at the world from the eyes of those who do not have access to it due to the digital divide and how as a champion of equal opportunity I can take it into account in the future. By reading up on the imitation game and chatbots I was encouraged to look at the role things like gender played in the development of artificial intelligence which as an Economics student I would not have otherwise come across. Coming from a non-technical background, having the opportunity to engage in ideas like the Internet of things opened my eyes to how I can be affected personally with the way data is being collected through devices like my HomePod as well as the future job market being under threat.
As someone who wants to pursue law in the future, the concept of a digital identity and being more aware of the importance of managing an online presence has transformed me greatly by making me more conscious of the kind of information I share as I recognize that our digital footprint is very likely to follow throughout life. At the same time I was able to recognize how it is our right to be able to be forgotten and how our moral judgments and ethical standards need to be upheld in the strongest manner. Not only that, but it has made me look beyond the superficial connections and likes on social media and to take more confidence in building genuine connections.
Having to study a module completely online while being assessed in the form of blogs was something I was not very used to. I have written blogs as a child without any consideration for intellectual property or any focus on relevant research to support my claims. However, after having gone through this module I was able to understand how to properly cite someone else’s work in such articles without the risk of plagiarism. Furthermore, I faced a challenge of not having a proper class schedule each week where I would have been forced to attend. As a result, I had to learn to discipline myself to meet my weekly targets myself to submit essays on time which taught a very important skill for the future.
Over the past few weeks, it was a rollercoaster of challenges, learning and eventually coming out as a better individual who not only cared more about the necessary effort to protect one’s privacy, but also strengthened ethically to be a better digital citizen all while engaging with the new ideas that shape the world.
