Great article from when the concept of digital citizenship was just emerging. I find it really interesting that the descriptions of who a digital citizen is can still be applied today. so although the technology has changed a lot, the concept has remained the same. The last page is particularly interesting as the author discusses how he thinks digital citizens will change the future.
“Can we build a new kind of kind of politics?” I asked. “Can we construct a more civil society with our powerful technologies?”
“The survey reveals there is indeed a distinct group of Digital Citizens. As I suggested, they’re knowledgeable, tolerant, civic-minded, and radically committed to change. Profoundly optimistic about the future, they’re convinced that technology is a force for good and that our free-market economy functions as a powerful engine of progress.”
“The Internet, it turns out, is not a breeding ground for disconnection, fragmentation, paranoia, and apathy.”
“Digital Citizens are extremely knowledgeable about the world around them.”
“Far from being distracted by technology, Digital Citizens appear startlingly close to the Jeffersonian ideal - they are informed, outspoken, participatory, passionate about freedom, proud of their culture, and committed to the free nation in which it has evolved.”
“The less connected people are, the more ignorant of and alienated from politics they are likely to be.”
interesting too that the four user groups discussed in this article has distinct parallels to the 2001 american Behavioral Scientist article i posted notes from earlier.
by Karen Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert and Ramona S. McNeal. 2008
notes for future reference. handy for defining who a digital citizen is
Read moreAmerican Behavioural Scientist. Vol 45 No 3. November 2001. By Philip N. Howard, Lee Raine, Steve Jones.
notes for future reference. good stats on dividing net users into groups
Read moreby Andrew Chadwick and Philip N. Howard. 2008
notes under the cut for future reference
Read moreare pressures to reconfigure the meaning of citizenship.
A collection of general ideas from all over:
- To be a citizen means to help out your community and take action when needed. Being a citizen isn’t just being in a community; it’s about helping others. source
- To obey the laws, to treat one another with respect no matter what socio economic class and to help all people. source
- To have a stake in the community, to do things to make it a place for people to enjoy as I do. source
- On a purely definition based description, what it means to be a citizen is that a person is a legally recognised inhabitant of the country they live in. source
- To truly be a citizen of a country, the person must fully understand its culture. This does not necessarily mean that person must blindly agree with the ways of doing things – but an understanding of how and why things happen is vital. source
- Not speaking the language the other people in your community and culture speak is a major hindrance to becoming a true citizen. source
- Legally, a citizen is someone who has the required passport, a piece of paper. But truly, a citizen is someone who shares with their communities and who gives back what they take out…it is about an emotional state and mindset just as much as geographical and legal term. source
- A citizen is a person born within the borders of a country and is given certain rights and responsibilities of that country. source
- Every citizen has rights in and responsibilities to their home country. Citizens must follow laws of the land and protect and defend the country if they are asked to do so in a time of war. source
- Certain people may be subjected to a loss of their citizenship through various actions. Sometimes citizenship can be revoked if convicted of crimes such as treason. source
- It means you have an identity that will hang around you forever, something to relate to and somewhere where you can call home. source
