IB Digital Society Topic 2 - Concepts - Digital Society Key Definitions

A systematic error in an algorithm that produces unfair outcomes, often by favouring one group over another.

The use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention.

A digital figure or character that represents a person in an online space, which they can design and control to stand in for themselves.

A shared, append-only record made of blocks linked by cryptographic codes, so that any later tampering is easy to detect and the data stays trustworthy without a central authority.

The evolution, transformation, adaptation, or movement from one form, state, or value to another.

An ethical framework that judges an action by its outcomes. Its best-known form, utilitarianism, says the right action is the one that produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

The process by which platforms review and remove content that breaks their rules or the law, deciding what is allowed to stay online and what is taken down.

The flattening of many separate audiences into one, so that something you share for one group is seen by others, making it hard to tailor how you present yourself.

A rule-based ethical framework that judges an action by whether it follows a duty or rule, regardless of the outcome, so some acts are simply right or wrong in themselves.

The gap between people who have reliable access to digital systems and the skills to use them and those who do not, a gap that tends to follow existing lines of income, age, geography, and ability.

The lasting trail of data a person leaves through their online activity, including posts they share and records collected about them without their action.

The online representation of a person, group, or community, built from their profiles, activity, and the data collected about them.

Technologies, applications, and platforms that create, store, process, and distribute digital data and information. Smartphones, social media platforms, AI assistants, and robots are all digital systems.

When a system as a whole shows behaviour or patterns that none of its individual parts have on their own, so the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

The act, process, or instance of representing ideas, emotions, and/or experiences using different modes and media.

A cycle in which the output of a system feeds back to affect its own input, either amplifying the change (reinforcing) or pushing back to keep the system steady (balancing).

Speech that attacks or demeans a person or group because of a characteristic such as race, religion, gender, or disability. Digital networks can spread it quickly and widely, which is why platforms and laws try, imperfectly, to limit it.

A space where the physical and the virtual blend together, so that digital information and real-world places are experienced at the same time, such as using a phone map while walking a street.

The qualities, beliefs, and characteristics that define a person, group, or community. Identity is shaped by others and by context, so it is not fixed.

The extension of internet connectivity to everyday physical objects such as lights, watches, and sensors, so they can collect data and be monitored or controlled over the network.

The idea that a person's identity is made of several factors at once, such as gender, race, class, age, and ability, which overlap and combine to shape their experience rather than acting one at a time.

False or misleading information that spreads online, whether shared by mistake or deliberately, made harder to catch when convincing media can be produced and shared by anyone.

The tendency for people to act more freely online than they would face to face, saying or doing things they normally would not, encouraged by factors such as anonymity and not seeing the other person.

The ability or capacity to influence or control the behavior of others.