2.5: Societal Issues and the Internet
You will choose one societal issue or antisocial behavior associated with the Internet that you would like to investigate further. You will then publish an editorial on your course blog, focusing on the issue you select based on your reading of open access resources you find online. Your blog post will contribute to building your online identity in achieving the learning outcome for this unit.
Upon successful completion of this subunit you will be able to:
- Explain:
- The true cost of free websites
- Net neutrality
- Select one of the following societal issues or problematic online behaviours for further investigation:
- Online impersonation
- Internet trolling
- Online harassment
- Psychological issues
- Digital redlining
- Equity and inclusion; and
- Publish an editorial on a societal issue or antisocial behaviour of your choice, thereby contributing to your online identity as a digital citizen.
To test your knowledge of concepts associated with problematic behaviours online, we provide a short orientation quiz below. Once you have attempted your first answer, and in the event that you are not familiar or not sure what the alternatives mean, click on the options to find out more about the concept.
Mini challenge summary
Summary: Reflect on the hidden costs of using free website services 
45 minutes The World Wide Web was originally designed to provide universal access to a large universe of documents. To achieve universal access, it was paramount to design the web as an open system without a central locus of control. However, on the Internet there are an increasing number of “walled gardens” that aim to control user’s access to content and services. In this section we explore the concept of net neutrality and reflect on the risks associated with universal access to online information.
Impersonation online refers to the act of creating an online presence in someone else’s name. This is potentially a complex issue as some social media sites permit parody accounts or accounts that are intended to represent real individuals. It is not necessarily illegal to impersonate someone per se, for example comedy, but online impersonation is a growing problem. Many social media sites have anti-impersonation policies, but this is not sufficient guarantee or protection against the risks of online impersonation.
It is estimated that that the Internet has about 3.17 billion users, almost half the population of the world (Smith 2016[1]). With the growing number of internet and social media users, we are witnessing an increase in antisocial behaviour online.
In this section, we explore the phenomenon of internet trolling and strategies for managing this disruptive online behaviour taking the communication context into account.
Many associate online harassment with more extreme cases, for example: cyberbullying and teenage suicide, or cyberstalking leading to physical sexual harassment. Notwithstanding the seriousness of these offences, antisocial behaviours associated with other forms of online harassment are more pervasive than most people realise.
In this section, we will review research on the state of online harassment and consider how leading social media sites attempt to manage the challenge.
The internet, social media and mobile devices have introduced new psychological issues. These include, for example: the phantom ringing syndrome, nomophobia, cybersickness, and internet addiction disorder.
In this section, we identify selected psychological issues which learners may choose to research further in the learning challenge for this pathway.
Redlining is an American concept, which refers to the discriminatory practice of denying services, either directly, or through selectively raising prices to residents of certain areas based on racial or ethnic composition of those areas. In other words, making it extremely difficult for residents of poor neighbourhoods to borrow money or gain access to other financial services.
Historically, examples include refusing or limiting loans, mortgages and insurances within specified geographical areas, or in the case of retail, locating supermarkets impractically far from residents of the redlined area. Redlining comes from the red lines that were drawn on physical maps to designate targeted areas.
Inclusion is about a sense of belonging irrespective of national origin, age, race, ethnicity, belief, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status. Equity is a proactive commitment to equal opportunity and practices that ensure inclusion without intentional (or unintentional) discrimination.
In this section, we investigate examples of gender discrimination in a digital world, recognising that equity and inclusion are not restricted to gender alone.
In this section, you will choose a topic of interest relating to societal issues or problematic behaviours on the Internet for further investigation. You can select one of the topics introduced in this subunit, or an alternate issue you find more interesting.
Your task is to search for reliable resources on your chosen topic and to share these links on the course resource bank.
Challenge summary
Summary: Editorial on societal issue or problematic behaviour associated with the Internet 1.5 hours
