Disjointed Thoughts on the Dawning of the Digital Community 1.1.1

Twenty two years ago I graduated from high school. I really thought that I was "the stuff" that I had a "car phone", the old bag type. The phone was for dire emergencies only (seeing that it cost about $5 a minute to call someone), since I was traveling over two hours away from home for college. When I got to college the new thing was to be able to do part of our research for papers online through EBSCOhost. I guess the old adage..."if I only knew then what I know now..." applies here.

Wow, how time has completely changed. Now with the infinite amount of information at our fingertips the entire world has been forever changed. We cannot go back to the time before technology. We may can visit a simpler time and vacay without technology present, but the possbility of actually being able to funciton without technology are slim to none. The advances in technology have given society as a whole a sometimes unwanted and maybe unneeded facelift. But, it is what it is. Not only the introduction of the Internet and the research capabilities that it inherently comes with, but also the establishment and rapid expansion of social media have almost at times crippled our culture.

But, that being said, there are positives to the expanding digital universe that we live in. The immeasurable amount of knowledge that is available with the touch of a finger can be described as a doubled edged sword. To quote Voltaire as adapted by Stan Lee, "With great power comes great responsibility." The advancements to technology have made us the omnivores of information, not only consumers, but also producers. Being omnivores has given us, as digital citizens, certain inherent rights as well as reponsibilites just as a "conventional" citizen.

Digital citizenship requires even the person with the most rudimentary understanding of the digital world to be accountable for the information accessed as well as exhibited. A life "off the grid" so to speak is almost impossible in this age of information. So, we, the omnivores, by taking part in the digital world must accept and be fully accountable to the community created by the the new culture.