Digital Citizenship

How can I become a responsible citizen when using technology?

Being a responsible citizen when using technology is very important, and I will try my best to be as responsible as I can because if I'm not, then it can quite possibly result in serious consequences, either for me or for others.
To be a responsible citizen, I must keep my privacy and never post any information I don't want others to know online where all can see. If I do and someone finds out about it, then I'm making myself vulnerable and it is my own fault for posting it in the first place. I also shouldn't post any pictures of myself or my friends on sites such as Facebook without first editing my Privacy Settings so that only my friends can see them. Plus, I must always have the permission of the people in these pictures. On social networking sites, I must always make sure to add only my friends or people that I know well. If I do want to add others and make new friends, then I should first make sure that all my private information is taken off so that it is not visible to them.
I must also make sure that I myself do not fall victim to cyber-bullying. It is important to remember that random people on the internet do not know me or anything about me so whatever they say shouldn't affect me at all.
Another thing I should do as a responsible online citizen is to make sure that I never say anything bad or mean that I don't mean to anyone online (also known as cyber-bullying) because although spoken words fade away, written ones always stay unless deleted. The person they were written to could take them much more seriously than intended, especially if this person is a stranger. It could make him/her feel bad and less confident about himself/herself in the real world or even push him/her closer towards turning emo or committing suicide (as I learnt from the video Growing Up Online, this is quite possible and sadly it has happened on many occasions).
If I take all the precautions mentioned above, then I can keep myself, my friends, my family, and perhaps even others I don't know safe and in doing so, I will be a responsible online citizen.


How can I make others in my community aware of the importance of being a conscientious digital citizen and behaving appropriately when using technology and online resources?

Most people who use technology and online resources do not understand the true dangers and risks involved with using them. They are unaware of the serious consequences that some people (teenagers especially) have faced. Until I watched the video Growing Up Online, I myself was unaware. I knew and understood that it was dangerous to give out personal information, but I never really thought about the concept of cyber-bullying and I never even imagined that it could ever lead someone to kill him/herself. Many people who cyber-bully others just do it as a joke and don't really realize the consequences. Therefore a good way to reduce the amount of cyber-bullying would be to make others aware of its consequences so that they too strive to be conscientious digital citizens when using technology and online resources.
I can make people aware of this in many ways. A good start would be to tell people of what I have learnt; I can share the information verbally with my family and friends. I can also e-mail family members who live far away and people who have moved through Hotmail and Yahoo. Another possibility would be to post a note about it on Facebook, where a lot of people (especially children and teenagers, who are the most vulnerable) would be likely to read it. When I inform people of this through technology, I should also add the link to the site where they too can watch Growing Up Online. The reason I should do this is because seeing the videos, which include real-life cases where irresponsible digital citizens have wrecked their lives and/or others', will send a much stronger, more urgent message than my simple words ever could.