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In one of its first public statements since its launch, the Obama Foundation is issuing a call to examine the concept of digital citizenship.

Digital engagement and being a good digital citizen were focal points of the Obama Administration and it appears to be one of the early centers of interest for the former president in his private function as a global citizen.

Speaking earlier this year at the University of Chicago, the President touched on this theme, saying

[We] now have a situation in which everybodys listening to people who already agree with them. People are using social media and the global reach of the Internet to reinforc[e] their own realities, to the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate and then try to find common ground and actually move solutions forward, the former president said.

Now, his organization is issuing a call to start the conversation on how to improve our digital demeanors.

In a post to the Foundations Medium account, chief digital officer Glenn Otis Brown wrote:

These are big challenges, and the solutions arent self-evident. So, where to begin? We figure that the first step is simply to identify the problems and talk about them openly, together, via the very same channels that, when used without intention and awareness, help create the dysfunction in the first place.

Here are a few simple thought-starters. Respond through our site, share your thoughts on social media with #DigitalCitizen, or create your own original content and share it with us. Well update and expand on these over time feel free to pose your own questions back.

To get things moving, heres my response to the first question: A person who I think exemplifies online citizenship is Zeynep Tufecki. Zeynep takes care to explain complex technical issues to nontechnical people in an accessible way. She brings both her personal and professional experience to meaty topics of public interest particularly at the intersection of security, democracy, and technology without making or taking things personally. Shes an academic with a fierce practical streak. And even when being most emphatic, she does it with a sense of humor and humility.

Your turn. Write to us directly or drop a thought on the social channel of your choice. Add your voice.

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Obama Foundation issues a call for better digital citizenship - TechCrunch