Digital Voices: Progressing Children’s Right to be Heard Through Social and Digital Media (original) (raw)

Digital Voices-Progressing children's right to be heard through social and digital media Glossary of Terms This following glossary of terms provides a brief explanation of key words and phrases that are used throughout the report. The glossary is not a full definition but rather a clarification of the usage in the context of this report. More detailed explanation is provided in the relevant section where the terms are first introduced. Key concepts Working definition Civic engagement, civic participation Civic engagement and civic participation (often used interchangeably) refer to all the ways young people, whether individually or collectively, participate to improve the well-being of communities or society in general, and which provide opportunities for reflection (Brady et al., 2012). Digital Citizenship We use the Council of Europe definition of Digital Citizenship to refer to "The competent and positive engagement with digital technologies (creating, working, sharing, socializing, investigating, playing, communicating and learning); participating actively and responsibly (values, skills, attitudes, knowledge) in communities (local, national, global) at all levels (political, economic, social, cultural and intercultural); being involved in a double process of lifelong learning (in formal, informal and non-formal settings) and continuously defending human dignity" (Council of Europe, 2017) Digital technologies Digital technologies refer to all electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data. The term is used to encompass information and communications technologies including well known examples such as social media, online games, multimedia and mobile phones. Political participation Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political sphere. Political participation can take the form of membership of a political party, campaigning for a political party, joining a social movement. Public decision-making Children and young people's participation in decision-making is defined as "the process by which children and young people have active involvement and real influence in decision-making on matters affecting their lives, both directly and indirectly" (DCYA, 2019). Two main mechanisms by which young people may be involved in public decision-making include consultation whereby their views are sought and listened to by public sector organisations, and participation, which provides a level of public responsibility, power and influence in the formation of decisions (Botchwey et al., 2019). 9 Digital Voices-Progressing children's right to be heard through social and digital media Key concepts Working definition Social media Social media is a collective term for websites and applications which focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, contentsharing and collaboration. Different types of social media include social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), photo sharing sites (e.g., Instagram, Snapchat), video hosting and sharing (YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo), microblogging sites (e.g., Twitter, Tumblr) and discussion sites (e.g., Boards.ie, Reddit). Social media platforms are typically funded by advertising and data-driven marketing. Social participation Social Participation refers to the involvement in life situations offering interaction between an individual and the physical, social, and attitudinal environments. Social participation involves forming and maintaining social relationships in families and other social networks.