The Ethical Affairs of Facebook

 Many of us have heard of the controversial issues that have faced Facebook's executive team for some time now. From pro-communist advertisements to the boosting option for homophobic pages, Facebook hasn't exactly regulated unethical behaviour in the past. Their preference for profitable gain has historically triumphed any need to take a position regarding the company's values and has thus had negative effects.

In The Guardian article, written by Damian Gayle, it is claimed that "in public, executives at Facebook—have consistently downplayed its negative effects on teenagers." By disregarding the mental health concerns found in internal studies, Facebook chooses to brush aside the barrage of mental health issues found among young people who have already acknowledged this negative social change as a cause of these platforms.

The social shaping of technology that Baym speaks of draws on the causal reactions of people and looks at digital technologies as a product of it. She states that "social media platforms engineer particular kinds of sociality even as their users develop norms around their use," thereby emphasizing the overlaying idea that people have the ability to gauge the type of influence from the media they use (p. 51). In this particular Facebook example, society has collectively decided that displaying our personal lives on Instagram or Facebook is only acceptable if the photos posted are perfect. This unrealistic expectation has unfortunately led to a variety of mental health issues found in young people who have grown up alongside social media. Baym's argument revolves around the social shaping of technology and aims to manifest the limitations that society and technology exemplify in a world where social media is used so heavily. 

The link above leads to: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/timeline-facebook-s-privacy-issues-its-responses-n859651   A news article displaying a timeline of unethical behaviour from Facebook, as well as their responses to them.

Teja Garrido

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 15, 2021 at 11:04 AM

    Hi Teja,
    I really enjoyed reading your post!
    I agree, and I think you used Baym's finding really well with the affects of Facebook on society. I think teenagers have unknowingly developed a certain norm on how social media should be used, and how one should portray themselves on it. It's interesting how everyone decided to use social media as an outlet to only show the good in life. And I find it a little ironic, that studies show people without social media are much happier in real life, however, when I am having a good moment in real life, I feel the instant need to share it on my social media.

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  2. Sophie MagwoodOctober 20, 2021 at 10:45 AM

    Hi Teja!

    I think you brought up some great points regarding Facebook’s unethical behaviour, as well as the social shaping technology Baym discusses. It is true that social media has created unrealistic expectations particularly for young people to try to live up to that can create mental health issues. This is something we observed firsthand in the film Eighth Grade where Kayla tried to combat the difficulties of middle school along with the pressures and expectations of social media. These pressures pushed her to try and do things she may not have otherwise done-such as agreeing to send graphic photos to a boy in her class, as well as trying to present a picture-perfect life on social media when in reality she was struggling. I think showing these vulnerable and very real subjects is what made the film so powerful and true to life.
    Great work, I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the future!
    -Sophie

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