This is what I have seen across social media the past few days:
One "celebrity" share a secret recording of another "celebrity" on the phone.
Another "celebrity" stand up for that secretly recorded "celebrity" only to be attacked by others on social media and another "celebrity" posting a fake NSFW photo of her.
The wife of a candidate for President gave a speech at a national convention that was plagiarized from a speech given by another wife of a President.
Defenders of the plagiarist have denied (lied) using the excuse that common phrases are used by many people and this is only a big deal because the other person running for President has people making it a big deal.
A Presidential candidate was not given permission to use a song and used it anyway.
I use celebrity in quotes because I have a hard time validating the actions of people like this with suggesting their actions should be celebrated at all.
I refuse to tag any of these people and their tweets because I do not want to drive traffic to anything that might support them.
I also think everyone knows exactly whom I'm talking about despite my lack of names and direct links. That is why we need Digital Citizenship.
We are living in a world where students are exposed to more sources of information and have access to share their own information. Sadly, the crazy, mean-spirited, violent, angry, and bigoted voices are becoming louder on social media and people that are in the public eye are using these spaces to say awful things and, sadly, it helps support their "brand". It is disgusting and there needs to be a louder and better voice.
Schools need to step up and provide strong examples of what appropriate use of social media looks like and how using it hurtful ways, or using the Internet to plagiarize, or using songs without permission is wrong and possibly illegal. Twitter does not seem able to block everyone that is being bad on Twitter, so schools need to educate students AND parents on best practices of using the Internet.
If we do not do it, who will?
I often use celebrities, politicians, and newscasters to demonstrate the importance of Digital CItizenship and fluency. It's a great way to demonstrate those who harness it for its power, abuse it, or are a little clueless. When CNN reports on a clearly edited and staged viral video as news and has to issue a retraction or social media is used to elevate awareness or raise money (think ALS Ice Bucket Challenge), these are all great learning opportunities! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, unfortunately there are too many real world examples of poor digital citizenship. Since we live in such a connected world DigCit should just be a part of good citizenship.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for this great read. I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post. Spanish Translation
ReplyDelete