For this weeks class discussions we spent a lot of time talking about our feelings on whether cyber-vigilantism is wrong or right, and what is “too far” when doing this? I think humans as people always have a need to have checks and balances in our lives. In real life we have developed codes of laws, policies and social rules that govern our lives and give us structure. So it is natural that in the digital world, which lacks a cohesive set of rules and standard practices, that people want to make sure that others get “what’s coming to them” or “what they deserve.” That is why I think you get so many people that jump on others viral mistakes, many people want to have the roles of judge, jury and executioner and what better place to do that then an echo chamber where you don’t even have to show your real face!
. 
I do not think constantly harassing someone you have never met before because of what they posted or said is helpful in getting any type of justice but I also have strong emotions against people being blatantly ignorant online. People who are willing to say outrageous stuff like racism so publicly do so because they have gotten away with it their whole lives. I don’t stretch to say we have all met people like that who feel so smug because “they are just words” and they know in most peoples eyes the “morally right” thing to do is to be the bigger person. Of course this is from my own experiences, but I can not lie and say there isn’t some sense of satisfaction in seeing complete idiots get consequences for things they have been getting away with up until now. Do I think that this type of “justice” is accomplishing anything but a temporary band aid on a ever lasting problem? No, not really and that is because I think until we have a few generations who have grown up learning to be responsible digital citizens, the internet will keep being sort of a modern wild west, where the sense of responsibility for our own actions is not quite there for many people.
On the topic of digital citizenship, I have always been a strong believer in teaching students from a young age about being responsible online. I think by showing them that the digital world parallels our real world in many ways they can begin to understand that their footprint in the online world only grows and grows. It is important to curate that footprint and make sure you are being a responsible online citizen because as we know now your old past may still come back to bite you in the butt. When I was younger and first got access to the internet it was really free reign and no limits on what I could do and watch. Looking back now and I definitely made a ton of silly mistakes that I don’t think I would have if I had been shown basic online safety. Things like making accounts where I shouldn’t have, lying about my age on everything, uploading pictures to many websites, and never thinking twice about posting something because since it was online it doesn’t matter. For me it has thankfully never caused me issues but with all the risks out there of predators, identity thieves, viruses, misinformation and scammers it is more important now than ever to put digital citizenship at the forefront when learning about the internet and computers.
Leave a Reply