Contribution of National Heritage Festivals to Enhance Digital Citizenship among Members of Saudi Society: Day of Foundation as A Model

Abstract

This study aims to uncover the contributions of heritage national festivals to enhance digital citizenship among members of society in Saudi Arabia. Sample group was composed of 200 participants who are involved in using social media platforms. Employing the analytical descriptive methodology, the study concluded the following. A percentage of (25.5%) of participants believe that the "Day of Foundation" motivates exchange of our culture and heritage with the world. On another hand, participants representing (23 %) believe that our identity and national originality shall be duly respected. Findings further revealed a direct positive correlation between the topics on the Digital Citizenship Enhancement Scale and several variables of the study, save the 'gender' variable. Findings revealed that education was among the most influential factors in enhancing digital citizenship among members of the sample group, followed by "Age", then "Employment", and finally "Gender". Findings also indicated that priority of digital citizenship topics was "Learning and Communication’, followed by the topic of "Self-Protection" and "Protection of Others", and then the topic of "Self-Respect" and "Respecting the Other". The study recommended the need for cooperation among all educational, cultural, and social institutions in terms of orchestration of efforts in celebrating national heritage festivals in order to achieve integration in promoting positive and informed digital citizenship within the society.