Before this class, I would not have considered myself an active online participant. I have shared in class about the regulation I felt that I had on social media because of sports. Now that I am participating in a number of different ways, I am starting to understand how participating online can benefit you personally. From my former experiences, I saw online as a place to be cautious of my input and a place to observe from a distance. But now that I am more active online, I am starting to explore other forms of participating online along with furthering my knowledge of other ways to digitally share my interest. Professor Rheingold mentions in his book in a excerpt from Rosenberg on how participating online provides one with a perspective that is valued later in life.

“The now-unfashionable word “of empowerment” describes a part of that change: writing is a way of discovering one’s voice and feeling its strength. But writing in public involves discovering the boundaries and limits of that power, too. We learn all the different ways in which we are not the center of the universe.”

I feel this is what is being missed when criticism arises about younger generations use of the internet. The participatory culture will be a fluent part of generations to come and will be advantageous for them to learn this valuable tool. I believe that through better education of the filtering tools and effective ways of participating online could be helpful and provide older generations with a more open-minded perspective.