From Connectivity to Responsibility: Exploring the Implications of Living Within a Digital World.
The rise of the digital age has put technology at the centre of our lives, and it is no secret that it has transformed how we live and interact with the world, online and offline. We remain citizens of a digital world, surrounded by technology, but what are the implications of living within it, considering themes of digital engagement, simulated spaces, and data privacy? Additionally, what are our responsibilities as digital citizens?
Digital Engagement.
Engagement has always been a crucial element of humanity, however, digital technology is shaping what engagement is today, stretching it beyond previous physical constraints, and influencing how people connect in “online and offline environments”.
Technology has facilitated the creation of new engagement platforms which enable people to connect with others online. For example, social media, a prominent digital platform, especially among younger generations, is challenging the idea that “face to face” interaction is essential for human connection.
A 2019 study uncovered that teens spend on average 20.5 hours online weekly and 69% regularly engage with others on social media. This highlights the prominence of these technologies, and that social media has become a common place for people to make friends within the digital world. Evidently, digital engagement platforms provide benefits of increased connection with others. A peer used the pandemic as an example of how engagement platforms helped to form online communities and reduced feelings of isolation when we couldn’t go anywhere.
Similarly, these platforms are beneficial to marginalised groups within the digital world. For example this study on young digital citizens, found that despite a physical withdrawal from social life, they were actively engaged in online communities. Rather than being isolated, technological advancements showed them new ways to connect with others. This further exemplifies the benefits of technology and digital media for digital citizens and the role it plays in increasing connection. However, there are concerns about how far this will go; will people become so socially withdrawn in real life due to online communication that they loose the ability to communicate face-to-face? This is a pressing issue as citizens are increasingly preferring online communication over in-person engagement due to its ‘instantaneous nature’. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the negative implications of digital engagement (aside from solely concerns of data privacy, identity theft, and online abuse) by acknowledging the addictive nature of technologies and the potential to cause a fragmentation of identity (FoI).
“40% of teens have posted content to make them appear in a positive light to others”.
This suggests that people often present themselves online as something they are not, causing us to become dissociated from our genuine identities, highlighting the prevalence of FoI. Additionally, another obvious negative implication is the risk of disconnection from the real world as people begin to spend too much time online.
Technology advancements are further enriching engagement platforms through simulated spaces; “fully immersive worlds where people communicate through digital avatars”. For example, virtual world AltSpaceVR, allows users to create personal avatars to interact with others.
Virtual environments blur the lines between online and offline spaces, creating a “hybrid reality” which is likely to intensify as simulations appear more real.
Belk’s (1988) concept of the ‘extended self’, where our online presence extends our identity, is reimagined in virtual worlds as avatars influence the online self and multiplies our identities. Within virtual worlds we can detach from our physical bodies, taking on any persona. Whilst this offers opportunities of self-expression and discovery through designing your own avatar, prolonged immersion in virtual worlds as your idealised self, causes boundaries between physical and virtual selves to become more unclear. This raises concerns about escapism, disconnection from reality, and FoI, as people navigate between their virtual and authentic personas, which is damaging to their mental health.
Privacy and Responsibility
People tend to hyper-fixate on the benefits of technology, such as increased convenience, but people rarely consider the price they pay for this. A previous student highlighted that whilst we do not pay for engagement platforms, we pay in other ways by allowing companies to collect our personal information. These organisations are constantly collecting your data to sell to other firms, therefore, when you use platforms to engage with friends, you’re also engaging with companies!
Shoshana Zuboff’s book emphasised this; highlighting that the amount of digitised information, including personal data, is increasing. Therefore, it is important to protect your digital footprint; your “traceable online activities”, such as what you post and who you engage with.
“Internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprint…”
…But 61% still don’t feel pressured to restrict their online information.
This is a major concern because companies collect this information. However Google’s CEO argued that perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it at all if you have something you don’t want large companies to know about. This argument contradicts the 2019 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which establishes the human fundamental right to privacy.
It is unlawful to process personal data without the individual’s consent.
Whilst we have the right to control information about ourselves, we must be responsible citizens and ensure that we don’t accidentally let companies collect our information, such as agreeing to terms and conditions before reading them.
However, there are significant power dynamics between individuals and large technology companies; therefore, educators and governments must create and implement policies that promote safe and ethical technology use to ensure that society doesn't suffer the negative implications of living in a digital world whilst companies benefit. Furthermore, without policies in place people may feel compelled to limit what they post online, stifling innovation, creativity, and diversity of thought.
Ultimately, whether your digital footprint impacts you depends on how much control you have over it, highlighting the need for us to be responsible citizens.
Digital citizenship refers to the skills and capabilities required to participate in the digital world. There are 5 pillars of digital citizenship which we can all achieve, including being digitally educated, respecting others online, using technology to participate in society, maintaining a positive relationship with technology, and being safe online. It is essential that we all ‘do our bit’ as digital citizens to fully utilise technology’s capabilities, whilst protecting ourselves from risks, allowing society to prosper in the digital era.
Conclusion.
Living in the digital world has many implications, both positive and negative. It brings opportunities of connectivity, innovation, and engagement but it presents challenges to examine. Data privacy, fragmentation of identity, and digital footprints to name a few, mean that navigating the digital world is complex, requiring us to be responsible digital citizens to strike a balance between the positive and negative implications of living within a digital world to provide a more sustainable future.
Reflection.
Description:
Throughout my journey on this module, I have explored insightful and interesting themes which have deepened my understanding of how technology shapes society.
Thoughts / feelings:
Prior to beginning this module, I was anxious as it was 100% online. I took this course because of its relevance to my degree and my personal interest in the digital world. During this course, I wanted to develop confidence in blog writing and enhance my critical thinking.
Throughout the course, I enjoyed learning about the themes, in particular digital engagement and how we engage with companies on a large scale and friends and family at a local scale. The smart cities topic expanded my knowledge on digital society as to how technology will shape lives in the future. Moreover, the blog writing style was interesting for me to learn about and use and I even enjoyed writing the assignments for this course! Whilst finishing this course’s final assignment, I feel a sense of pride in myself for completing an online module, dealing with its challenges, and stepping out of my comfort zone to write online.
Evaluation:
My anxious thoughts quickly disappeared as I immersed myself into the themes. I was pleased with my performance assignment 1 where I delved into the online engagement and of my chosen company, Glossier, with feedback emphasising that I used the appropriate formatting and writing style, with a strong understanding of content to make the post engaging. However, assignment 2 highlighted that I needed to develop my critical analysis by questioning the sources I was using and not only taking them at face value.
Analysis:
Whilst assignments showcased some improved critical analysis, feedback made me realise that I need to enhance it further, therefore, I dedicated time to critical analysis exercises.
This course showed new ways to participate and engage in digital society, through blog posts. I gained confidence in blog writing, which while it may still need improvement, I have begun to develop a valuable skill to enable me to communicate within a digital age.
Conclusion:
This course has deepened by understanding of digital society and developed a crucial skill of critical thinking. This module has challenged me to think about topics which I hadn’t thought about previously such as smart cities and brain computer interfaces. These topics made me realise that living within a digital society is much more than just engaging on social media and using technologies, enhancing my understanding of the complexities of the digital era.
Action:
In the future, I am going to keep up to date with the digital world and continue to improve my knowledge around topics which this module has introduced me to. I will also continue to develop my critical analysis, take feedback into consideration, and transfer my skills to other courses to improve. Finally, this module has made me excited for the future of digital society, but I will always be critical about potential technological threats we need to watch out for.
