Digital Etiquette

The term digital etiquette refers to the electronic standards of conduct or procedures. Digital etiquette involves thinking about others when using digital devices.

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Buchanan, R., Southgate, E., Scevak, J., & Smith, S. P. (2018). Expert insights into education for positive digital footprint development. Scan: The Journal for Educators, 37, 49-64.

A digital footprint is the data you leave behind on the internet about yourself. This can include information shared about a person in a news story and information shared by a person on social media. Research has shown that positive digital footprints are important for obtaining employment. However, many young people do not know how to create a positive digital footprint. This article highlights the 'Best Foot Forward' project undertaken in Australia to help young people understand the importance of digital footprints. The researchers surveyed experts on digital footprints for the purpose of answering two research questions: 1) What do experts know about digital footprint management; and 2) What are their suggestions for education? The key findings in this study were that educators should play a key role in teaching about digital footprints and the use of case studies are important so that students have examples to model. Also, it is important to develop age appropriate content on digital footprint and to consider how to involve the community.

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Elbedour, S., Alqahtani, S., Rihan, I. E. S., Bawalsah, J. A., Booker-Ammah, B., & Turner Jr, J. F. (2020). Cyberbullying: Roles of school psychologists and school counselors in addressing a pervasive social justice issue. Children and Youth Services Review, 109, 104720.

This article framed cyberbullying as a social justice issue that should be addressed by school psychologists and school counselors. In the first part of the article, the authors discuss the definitions of cyberbullying, the role of school psychologists and school counselors, and the various ways cyberbullying can be studied including social implications, power imbalances, impact on victims, how cyberbullying compares to traditional bullying, risk factors, and the social normalization of cyberbullying. The second part of the article is focused on what actions school psychologists and school counselors can take to prevent cyberbullying. Strategies include training, awareness programs, interventions, risk assessment, school culture, and psychotherapy.

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Mistretta, S. (2021). The New netiquette: Choosing civility in an age of online teaching and learning. International Journal on E-Learning, 20(3), 323-345.

During the early days of the internet, the concept of netiquette was developed in order to establish norms on how people should conduct themselves online. The original concept of netiquette is outdated, but the need for norms surrounding appropriate actions online still exists. The authors suggest developing new netiquette guidelines using The Twenty-Five Rules for Considerate Conduct developed by Forni in 2002. Forni's rules will help students and teachers know how to act online and things they should be aware of. The author of this article gives examples of how each of the twenty-five rules could look in an education setting.

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​​Moorefield-Lang, H. (2020). Learners’ legacies as digital citizens. Knowledge Quest, 49(1), 24-27.

Moorefield-Lang shared the term digital legacy (one’s digital life and the information left behind) and how it connects with digital citizenship. To the author, digital legacy is akin to a digital footprint and a necessary consideration for all students. The article ends with recommendations for school librarians to help them teach about digital legacy and digital citizenship, including resources like Be Internet Awesome, Common Sense Media, iPassword, and others.

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Ronson, J. (2016). So you've been publicly shamed. Riverhead Books.

This book, written by a journalist from the United Kingdom, described the history of public shaming, and its new manifestation in online forums. Describing several examples of individuals and their stories, examples of public online shaming expose threats, harrassment, and the subsequent fallout of being shamed online which has included unemployment, humiliation, and suicide. 

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Soler-Costa, R., Lafarga-Ostáriz, P., Mauri-Medrano, M., & Moreno-Guerrero, A. J. (2021). Netiquette: ethics, education, and behavior on the internet—a systematic literature review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 1212.

This article examined literature around ‘netiquette’, a term used to link the space between the Internet and civic norms found in social media and online communications. The article examined research on social etiquette, found in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, and in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). Researchers found 53 articles, and 18 which matched the criteria. The findings demonstrate that netiquette is a poorly defined study area, both in theory and practice. Most articles are linked to educational or training contexts, and the majority of research is conducted using ad-hoc questionnaires. The authors were able to group the literature into two groups: use of email in the digital world and digital trends (cyberbullying, online relationships, etc.). Of interest for educators is that the research analyzed on netiquette and university students indicated that there is an improvement in the quality of discussion forums when netiquette guidelines are provided. 

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Wang, X., & Xing, W. (2018). Exploring the influence of parental involvement and socioeconomic status on teen digital citizenship: A path modeling approach. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(1), 186-199.

This study examined how parental participation and socioeconomic position influenced digital teen citizenship, which encompasses things like internet access, digital etiquette, and digital safety. Explained causal linkages between these components devised a research-based route model. This approach was tested using data from 270 teenagers and their parents. In general, this study found that parental participation and socioeconomic position influenced digital teen citizenship, particularly in the areas of digital access, digital etiquette and digital safety, favorably. By assisting parents and educators in promoting online safety and digital citizenship development, the study findings can guide future model development and further impact good societal change. Although this study focuses primarily on parental and socioeconomic influences, the authors conclude that educating youth on being good digital citizens is a collective effort involving schools, teachers, parents, classmates, and the general public.