Digi Citizen

Online US Government Social Security

The American (US) social security system has a website with a user-friendly layout (ssa.gov s.a.) In large font and clearly labeled icons it provides basic and specific information about available and recommended services, such as retirement, disability, supplemental income, and government-sponsored health insurance. Accessing these services online is fairly easy for computer-literate users; calling the departments for help can be time consuming and frustrating, however. 

In the 1990’s, when I was a single mother with very little income, my children and I had free, government-funded health care through Medicaid and a monthly allowance for milk and other basic foods through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program (Medicaid.gov s.a.). I was not aware of WIC being a federal program, because it was administered through state agencies, which is how it is set up to work, since 1974. (U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service 2019.) The application process was not digitalized on the user side when we were using the services; case workers were entering our information from paper applications into computer databases.

In the past 2 years, I have applied for supplemental income services, called PFL (Paid Family Leave), through the state of California, while on family medical leave, caring for my parents. This is a service funded by a state disability tax that is deducted from my paychecks, and it gives me the assurance that 70% of my wages are covered for up to 12 weeks of medical leave after having had surgery or to care for a newborn or an ill family member. The application for this process was fairly easy, but could be improved upon, and – good thing I am being reminded – has not yielded any results yet and needs active follow-up. Sure enough – nothing more can be done online, and the phone lines are chronically clogged. The one time I got through, the clerk’s voice became garbled, then the call dropped. No one called me back. Last time it worked more smoothly. It takes lots of patience and persistence. It is good to experience what people without internet access go through on a regular basis. It isn’t fun, probably also not for the case workers, who must deal with many frustrated callers. 

The pros of digital application and processing of services are that more clients can be served, and faster. So much more data can be stored and retrieved electronically, and we don’t have to wait weeks for snail mail to deliver a notice that may say, ‘we need more documentation before you can get services’. The cons include that exactly the underserved community may be the clients who now feel that it got EVEN HARDER to access public services, because it requires extra steps, necessitating computer literacy and access to devices with internet service. Privacy can be difficult to maintain, if the access device is a public one, or shared between multiple users.

The improvement I would suggest is to simplify the process of uploading manually completed paperwork. When signatures are needed on some of the electronic forms, uploading them afterwards as scans is not as intuitive as it should be. The scan files appear in a different area of the website than the purely electronically filed form pages, delivering a holy shock when checking back later, appearing as if the crucial signed pages were not submitted.

Public access kiosks seem to be a great solution, as for example included in plans for Kazakhstan’s reformed public health model (Scientific Research Institute s.a.), but to date I have not seen such kiosks in overt use on street corners of underserved city districts. A 2012 online article describes the many benefits, but then there is silence on the topic for the next 10 years (Jones 2012).

I have used government kiosks inside the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to fill out forms for drivers license renewal or driver permit tests, that are then electronically submitted and further processed at a counter with a live agent, in the same building. But that does not help to decrease the number of people standing in line in front of and inside the department to get service. In other words, kiosks could be applied more efficiently if they were placed conveniently all over the city, easy to access by people without transportation or personal computers.

The Parallel Universe of Online Shopping

My experience with digital shopping has been mixed. Sometimes I can find the item I am looking for locally for a similar price or even on sale, for a better price. Sometimes I find similar, even more perfect items in local second hand shops or other local stores, than I was seeing in online searches.

Information adequacy about the item for sale has been fairly consistent, often depending on the site or vendor. Sites like amazon or eBay tend to attract a high volume of sellers; too many to screen ahead of time for reliability. For this reason, these large companies have reliable return policies favoring the customer, so that any problems with seller integrity can be easily resolved.

I have learned to distrust sites or sellers that appear sloppily organized or presented, or where items are described in euphorical terms, rather than factual ones. I also check existing customer reviews; if there are only a few, and they all give a 5-star rating, I do not believe them to be authentic. If I see hundreds or thousands of reviews, and customers go into detail what they like or dislike about the item, I can come to a conclusion whether this item is right for me. Customer feedback is an invaluable tool for both buyer and seller. It is often the only trustworthy source of information in online sales.

I do use Amazon a lot, though I have slowed down a little: do I really need more stuff?! I am not proud of my choice, because I know it can deprive local businesses of their livelihood. Whenever possible, I buy from the used items area of Amazon, to minimize demand for new production of merchandise. Some businesses have started to adapt and sell their new or returned/pre-owned wares on Amazon, and then have the advantage of being able to deliver the item(s) within 1 day from a local location. They still have heavy competition because of Amazon’s swift shipping concept, using FedEx, UPS, DHL, or Amazon’s own delivery service (yes, they find impressive ways of making the money themselves).

The reason I use Amazon, despite my ethical objections is that in local businesses we sometimes cannot find the product, or they may have to order it, just like me. If I agree to have them order it for me, I may be stuck with the item, due to a less flexible return policy. This is especially my experience in Germany, where I visit my parents. They live in a smaller town, and many small and large businesses have rigid return policies…or have closed in the past 2 years, leaving online orders as the only option, especially for older customers, who don’t have the energy or strength to walk from store to store until they find what they hoped for. Sad to think that online orders may have caused this situation in the first place. We order online, because it is more and more available, and it is increasingly available, because we support this way of doing business. A self-promoting mechanism.

I have gotten used to searching for items as soon as I think of them, and the instant gratification of finding something can lead to an order out of affect. Other times, I try a google search first, and if I find the item for a similar price locally, I will gladly take a long walk and get it there. On this walk, I often pass other local stores and visit them too, often buying something to support the local vendor, for example the Peruvian store with its handmade Alcantara ponchos, little colorful zippered pouches, silver talismans or jewelry from the Andes. I even gave business to a local seamstress I discovered on one of my walks. She was able to copy a favorite skirt that had disintegrated by my constant wearing. She sewed me two new ones, and I paid her a big tip out of deep gratitude, and to make up for my other, ‘predatorial’ (Amazon) purchase choices.

I now minimize how much I buy (and return) online, after years of internet purchases out of curiosity, mania, glut, interest, despair, or whatever one might call my motives. I have also sold items on Amazon or eBay and experienced how hard it can be for a seller to get justice, if a buyer abuses their purchase protection and tries to cheat. In one case it took over a year to get a refund, although I had written proof from the buyer that he had received my package, and then stated he never did. The Amazon machinery was not as nimble and intelligent in that particular case, and it took extreme persistence to get them to enforce my rights as a seller.

The Digital               Gap

The digital divide – a true abyss for those who need help most in this digital age, and it seems to be getting worse. The trend has definitely been toward digital communication and applications. Good for me, but is it good for everyone? Especially the old and economically weak often have difficulty learning, using, and accessing computer-based services. Has physical access also become easier or faster by digitalized self-service freeing up resources for in-person assistance? My long hold times to speak to an agent at the state office tells me, no. 

At my workplace, the advice line of a large healthcare provider (I’ll keep it anonymous), a new workflow is being rolled out: now only patients can change their contact information and only by updating it online. Appointment reminders will automatically be sent to the phone number or email address on file, as we make the final click to book an appointment, and we are no longer able to update their preferences, as before. Also, reminder phone calls and postcards are not an option anymore. Whoever does not use email or text has to manually note their appointment details, leaving room for errors. Young adults, who just transitioned into their own healthcare account after turning 18, may still have their parents’ phone numbers on their file. These parents may now get appointment reminders that the patient would have rather kept confidential. Lots of opportunity for healthcare privacy law (HIPAA) violations.

I felt sad to see this change. It requires us telehealth nurses to ignore the needs of seniors, non-native speakers, computer-illiterate, inexperienced, intellectually disabled, or economically weaker patients, who may not have access or be tech savvy enough to use text or email, let alone go online to edit their information. It goes heavily against my instincts as a patient advocate. How can a healthcare institution make such heartless choices? They are risking underserving the already underserved a whole lot more. Already some clients call and complain about the long wait times until they can reach a real person to speak with; now this ‘real person’ has less resources available to soften the already difficult user experience of these frustrated callers. We are actively contributing to the digital divide. Affected clients might lose faith in progress and digital innovations, which can be so beautifully useful. It hurts to see such ignorance and indifference on part of a large, supposedly non-profit, supposedly caring corporation.

I commented on Kenza’s, Matilainen’s, and SonjaJu’s posts, which were all very well done. Good job, ladies!  

MiniMe – Notes to Self and Others

My personal Digital Citizen Report looks like this, according to The Digital Competence Wheel (2022):

(Digital Competence Wheel 2022)

It looks like pretty flower, favoring conscientious use of the internet, with a strong eye on safety and strong wish to collaborate. I feel this assessment of my online practices is accurate. For security reasons, I gave myself a nickname and chose to not save my result, further hoping this company does not sell the little information I submitted. I avoid taking online assessments like these whenever possible. 

Reflecting on my experience, I feel that I learned a lot from this assignment. Memories came up, and I was surprised how much more informed I am today than back then. It makes me more understanding of my clients, who call with questions and needs that I can now assist with, not only by looking at a protocol, but also given my accrued life experience. It also helps to examine one’s current behaviors as a DigiCitizen. My goals are to become even more conscientious as an online consumer, and to learn more about using the many functions of Microsoft or other programs that share documents in groups. These are very helpful tools that I am not good at, yet. 

Visiting other blogs has been interesting and inspiring. Kenza’s blog impressed me with its elegance, both in design and writing. I gleaned the concept of using headings and citing resources with little numerical notations, instead of the clumsy APA way. Lissa’s (Matilainen’s) page was also very interesting and well written, I enjoyed it very much and learned some new things. Same counts for Sonja’s page. I am excited to read my fellow students’ blogs and get a glimpse into their lives. I had no experience with blog writing before. Good to have a group of people to practice with!

 

References

Jones, Miriam 2012. Are Government Kiosks Making a Comeback? Government Technology August 02, 2012. https://www.govtech.com/archive/are-government-kiosks-making-a-comeback.html. Accessed 17.2.2022.

Medicaid.gov s.a. Program History. https://www.medicaid.gov/about-us/program-history/index.html. Accessed 19.2.2022.

Scientific Research Institute “Artificial Intelligence” s.a. Mobile applications for healthcare in Kazakhstan. Video presentation. https://moodle.savonia.fi/course/view.php?id=14509#section-4. Accessed on 4.2.2022.

SSA.gov s.a. Social Security. https://www.ssa.gov. Accessed 17.2.2022. 

The Digital Competence Wheel 2022. Report for MiniMe. 16.2.2022. https://digital-competence.eu. Accessed 16.2.2022.

U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service 2019. WIC Fact Sheet. 14.2.2019. https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-fact-sheet. Accessed 19.2.2022.