As part of our discussion about digital citizenship, students recently participated in an online forum (through my classroom Moodle site) about the topic. The following excerpts show their thoughts:
"It is easier for people to be cruel
through the use of the internet, texting, etc. because they cannot see the
person's face and how they are reacting so they feel they can get all of their negative feelings out without having to actually deal with the reaction of the
other person."
"I totally agree that people should
think more about what they write out before they send it. I heard someone created a "message
preview" feature which read aloud whatever you were typing into a text
box. The results were amazing, people wrote in to the guy who made it saying
how stupid they felt for thinking up some of the comments they had written.
Stuff like that should happen more often, then people would think through
things more."
"What I think people who are mean to
others online don't realize is that even though there isn't a true physical
aspect there, there is still a connection between them and what they say
online. The internet is called a "virtual world", but really, we're
still here on Earth, and the things that happen online will still affect us."
"When people don't have to talk to someone
face to face, they feel as though they have more power over that person. These
people also may think that after they say something mean or inconsiderate that
they can take it back, but the truth is that they really can't."
"I believe people do say things online
that they may not tell directly to a person. The things people might say online
doesn't automatically mean something negative, it could be that they are too
nervous or feel uncomfortable saying something in person. Looking around, I
noticed that we don't talk like this in class. Other people's posts, when you
think of it, don't sound like him or her when you imagine it's their voice. I
also notice that other people show their opinions and explain them very well.
In class, I noticed that many people say their opinions, but not really explain
it as much as these posts. Anyone noticed? (Even I am doing it.)"
"The internet allows us the freedom to
talk to others and access information whenever we want, which makes us feel
like we can do whatever we want. Also, we can feel anonymous behind a computer
screen, which makes us feel like we can say anything."
"People use the computer almost as a
"mask" and feel like they can say whatever they want, but in reality,
talking through the computer can even hurt more than in real life."
"I feel
that when people talk on the internet they use more caution. If I had a complaint with someone and I was
digitally communicating with them I would be calmer or reserved in my comments
to them. I would do this because we all know how fast messages can be forwarded
to other people. So I would agree with
the statement that people would says things they wouldn’t in real life but
unlike everyone else thinking that they would talk more negatively on line than
in real life I think that they would talk nicer than in real life."
