Above is my representation of my digital residence mapping, I drew myself in the middle, a relatable position that depending on the time of day varies but remains ever connected all the same.

Understanding the Importance of Digital Etiquette: Common Courtesy Online

When acting as a digital citizen we are faced with a multitude of online platforms and applications that we are expected to utilize and are known based on our recognizable activity on them. Whether we are surfing the web for answers on reddit, scrolling through our Instagram feeds, or reaching out to potential associates or employers on LinkedIn we as a society have come to a mutual understanding of the significance of our diplomacy and activity in the digital sphere. What we are willing to showcase online says a lot about the type of person we are and can curate preconceived notions about the type of human we may be like offline. Arguably with the increased amount of time humans are spending online connecting, relaxing and working, or studying we are inadvertently an extension of ourselves offline as we present ourselves online; the only difference is one is anecdotal information whereas digital identity comes with an extremely tangible reality of verifiable events being recorded with or without our strict consent. This fact becomes evidence enough to enjoy ourselves on the internet with social awareness and how I like to imagine it is that we are part of a party online. There are groups and cliques depending on the websites you frequent or the forums you communicate with most but ultimately you never know who is lurking around the corner or who may be taking a photo without your awareness. It’s not necessarily wrong or inherently bad to be seen but we always want to keep in mind that the internet is not the intimate family gathering we easily imagine it to be but rather it’s more like a staff Christmas party, at a large company, with a handful of acquaintances and a boatload of strangers you may or may not want to make a good impression on but you certainly don’t want to deeply offend as a first impression. 

-But wait, I want freedom! An interlude, this is merely a suggestion, not an enforcement of law.

The way I am addressing this may seem daunting, and while there is something to be said about freedom of expression and not monitoring who we are and in return suppressing authenticity and originality it’s worth noting that nobody can stop you besides regulatory boards in extreme cases from deciding what you put online or who you allow to view it, but I am speaking from the point of view of the young, aspiring, hardworking professional or student who is trying to keep social awareness to a satisfactory level and ostracization from opportunities to a minimum. As always we can choose to enact our freewill and make those decisions which we know may harm our future selves online and often without real awareness of the implications in the moment. For these reasons I urge you to take a moment especially when posting something in a public and visible forum that may be used as a form of scrutiny and decide for yourself, and with yourself if there is a better way to say what you intend to and whether it needs to be said at all. If the answer is yes, I encourage the use of an alias if possible to limit the ease of tracing controversial comments or unorthodox opinions back to you in the future when you might wish you could take what you said back, and are unfortunately unable to do just that. 

So wait, what digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?

It’s important to address which platforms we as millennials and generation z’s alike are most engaged with to understand the perspective of this article. The 21st century Canadian students and adolescent professionals I have had contact with are most engaged with LinkedIn, Youtube and Instagram for things like “brand deals” and even applications like Snapchat have targeted young employees by online “Snaplications” which can curate a more efficient online only based resume and initial interview format for entry level jobs with are primarily employed through a younger demographic. These mediums may seem unfathomable for some older generations or possibly even certain parts of the world but for most westernized cultures there is a deep connection between your social media self and your employed self. 

Brand deals and online work is just for professionals or influencers, right? Think again!

Not only is this a misunderstanding in the modern world between younger and older generations it’s also misrepresented. Though yes working strictly from home in the traditional view may be reserved for those with specific professions that allow for this there are a plethora of opportunities available for those who know how to market themselves. No longer are sponsorships or ambassadorships reliant on athletic status or career successes; learning how to play the marketing game and becoming the advertisement is the success. With each day we spend on social media there is progress and increased statistics about user demographics, engagement algorithms, and informative statistics that track what is most profitable for companies and businesses and targets them to direct subscribers, or adjacent viewers of accounts. 

I get it- these ideas seem overwhelming and slightly exaggerated. Nevertheless, this is the reality our generation is faced with. The competition is fierce but the profits are appealing all the same. There is such a strong sense of dependency on devices especially in Westernized culture that a student’s life would be unrecognizable without it. This doesn’t mean we should necessarily say that having such a heavy reliance on the internet and social platforms is something that must be warded off but rather that it is a force we should learn to respect in all its beauty and power. Much like the forces of mother nature the media deserves to be enjoyed but it also expects us to be prepared to face it and embrace the unexpected. But just like it is impossible and unfulfilling to miss out on the natural world, we cannot move through our lives as professionals without embracing the new mediums of connection and networking via our digital reputation. Though it is something I personally struggle to embrace as I was born into a time where there was much debate about the benefits and consequences of online presence I think it would be naive to not acknowledge the many benefits my digital identity has had. There is much to concern ourselves with but if we treat ourselves with respect for our future and hold a modicum of decency for others our social awareness and innate desire to be good and approachable people should steer us in the right direction.