Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction
| Autor: | Manuel Velasquez, Vikram R. Bhargava |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Economics and Econometrics
business.industry Addiction media_common.quotation_subject Attention economy Business model Public relations General Business Management and Accounting 030227 psychiatry 03 medical and health sciences Philosophy Internet addiction disorder 0302 clinical medicine Wrongdoing Social media The Internet business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Ethics of technology media_common |
| Zdroj: | Business Ethics Quarterly. 31:321-359 |
| ISSN: | 2153-3326 1052-150X |
| DOI: | 10.1017/beq.2020.32 |
| Popis: | Social media companies commonly design their platforms in a way that renders them addictive. Some governments have declared internet addiction a major public health concern, and the World Health Organization has characterized excessive internet use as a growing problem. Our article shows why scholars, policy makers, and the managers of social media companies should treat social media addiction as a serious moral problem. While the benefits of social media are not negligible, we argue that social media addiction raises unique ethical concerns not raised by other, more familiar addictive products, such as alcohol and cigarettes. In particular, we argue that addicting users to social media is impermissible because it unjustifiably harms users in a way that is both demeaning and objectionably exploitative. Importantly, the attention-economy business model of social media companies strongly incentivizes them to perpetrate this wrongdoing. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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