A Reflection on “Ethics in the Digisphere”

I love blog posts that start out as a Facebook status update. It's late, and I've been penning this one for a little while. It's an odd way to begin, I know. "Critical Literacy, Popular Culture, and Ethics in the Digisphere" will be the guided focus for readings and discussions in ED 6106 this week. The Ted Talk and a perusal of the module's overview piqued my interest. I'm partway through the required readings posted yesterday and can't wait to write the post. The latter part of the topic resonates with me personally. My reflections could fill volumes regarding the rumours my family has heard and the things (well, bullshit would be more apt) we've seen posted about my secondborn. I've made the briefest of references to it in previous posts and will not be divulging any further details here. What better way than for an individual spreading rumours to reach an "attentive" audience than through social media? (Trust me when I say this is the kindest way I could phrase the question.) I still hold fast to the belief that the best rumours I've ever heard were in the form of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album. 

While the whole idea of ETHICS is the keyword that stood out to me in the title, I can confidently say that moral principles and sound reasoning don't always guide what gets posted online. To me, a lack of couth, upbringing, and attention-seeking behaviours often combine to create a perfect storm. By way of definition, a perfect storm is "a critical situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors." And in the fashion of a storm, significant disruptions will happen to so-called "normal states" of being. Let me tell you - disturbances have been plenty and anything but usual. Tempestuous conditions are necessary at times. Perhaps those affected by rougher conditions will see some good in the rainbow that appears once the storm moves out and the path is clear. 

Parents have an essential role in guiding their offspring and teaching them proper netiquette regarding the so-called "digisphere." The perceived lack of regard is alarming. One can preach digital literacy and digital citizenship until they are blue in the face. However, if people are free to run amok and post whatever in the heck they want, it's all for naught. All of that said, everything posted - whether positive or negative - comes from one who decided to do so. Perhaps that's one of the problems with being online today. Social media, I guess, isn't the main problem. By considering some platforms, increased usage leads to more followers, and more followers lead to inflated egos. A larger audience, often comprised of strangers, deludes some posters with a false sense of connection. 

I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly firsthand regarding the successes and the pitfalls of social media usage. Like many cautionary tales, this one comes with a lesson. Parents need to be aware of not only what their child is posting. In turn, what is being posted about and shared with them needs attention. While many of the apps that teens use might seem like they're all about connection, that is the furthest thing from the truth. 

Early in my career, I used to teach my students about the ills of being online and chatrooms by enforcing the idea that they couldn't be sure of whom they would be communicating. Mini documentaries like "Caught in the Net" presented a sickening portrayal of an unkempt child predator type individual wearing the stereotypical large glasses, cheesy mustache, greasy hair, and dirty white tank top. By sitting in his darkened room in front of a dimly lit computer screen, he lured young people into his web of deception by pretending to be someone he was not. How naive I was for showing my students that! It’s not necessarily strangers that need to be feared. Little did I know then that a vindictive teen could easily deceive their own followers and attempt to cause more harm than any evils lurking online.