As we embark upon the one year anniversary of the enforced changes that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, I reflect on how different life is.  More specifically, my digital life.  Everything from online security, access to online resources, and what others can find about me online are all topics to think about.  From the experience I share with my students online to what I choose to do personally all are connected to the topic of digital citizenship.

What do you look like online?  Would you be embarrassed to show what you posted to anyone who is able to see it?  All the information that one can learn about you is what is called a digital footprint.  Images we see, what social groups we join and our overall reputation is part of our digital footprint.  Anything we have done in the recent or far past can be viewed by anyone and is part of our digital makeup.  It is important that we do things to ensure that we are leading our best and most positive digital lives.  This includes thinking about what we post about ourselves and about others.  Making sure that we are proactive about what others see includes researching ourselves by way of search engine and investigating what others can find about you.  Altering your image may include deleting old accounts, and negative media posted by you, and sharing more positive items about your profession and important ideas that may help others.  

While updating your digital footprint is a large factor of your digital reputation, there is also an invisible factor that can affect what we see and our perspective of online information.  These “filter bubbles,” as named by Eli Pariser, collect information that interest you and slowly filter out ideas and data that you may not click on frequently.  In the end, your search engines, advertisements and even social media profiles become more targeted toward your tastes and preferences.  Although this sounds good in theory, it also gives a more biased outlook on the world and less information becomes easily available. There must be a more conscious look into this type of filtering and can be seen as a type of inconspicuous censorship.  

Censorship is looked negatively upon whether in leisure, business or education.  As informed users of technology, it is important to take into account that our access to information from the internet has the ability to change.  Due to the recent legislations made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), there are several areas that address the availability of information and access to online technology.  Based on the topic of Net Neutrality, the commission protects our right to an open and free internet.  Our access to information online can be summarized with three basic laws.  These laws prevent blocking legal web content, charging consumers for services based on the types of web content used or searched, and throttling, which is intentionally slowing down the speed to access selected information.  

As we continue to live our digital lives, we must be cautious in what we post, and continue to be aware of what rights we have online.  Continuing our experience as responsible digital citizens extends beyond social media and finding articles of interest.  It can be argued that these online ethics protects the right to free speech, free commerce and access to a fair education.  However, it is important to understand that as a consumer, these factors can be affected by how quickly we gain this information, based on what businesses can provide and how easily they can provide or alter these services.