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Shannon Vallor argues in the article Social networking technology and the virtues, that virtue ethics should be used to judge the ethicality of information technologies. She references Aristotle's idea that friendships are central to a good life, and such friendships should be evaluated on a set of virtues. Vallor expands upon Aristotle's original three, forming what she calls the communicative virtues: patience, honesty, empathy, fidelity, reciprocity, and tolerance.
In evaluating Snapchat, we see it as almost an "upgrade" from traditional text messaging. With the human face attached to the message, shouldn't it arouse more empathy and honesty in users? Messaging apps like Snapchat allow us the ease of contacting and communicating with peers, but the fragmented, shallow conversations that arise work against developing virtues the communicative virtues that Vallor describes. Instead of building patience and empathy from long, and sometimes painfully awkward face-to-face conversations, users could sign off and break off exchanges when they want. In Snapchat many people maintain conversations for the sake of their "streaks," keeping pointless conversations going with equally pointless pictures of walls or the floor.
Social networking technologies were designed, as their names suggest, to assist users in maintaining and growing their social networks. The key word here is assist. Luciano Floridi dispels the common notion that digital technologies are augmentative, which I discuss in my previous article The Great Digital Migration, and claims that they are instead changing the very nature of our being. Social networks may appear to be here to assist us, but the very act in doing so may instead be encouraging or discouraging development of our virtues.
As Vallor describes,
"Most technologies are designed with the aim of making human activity easier, less risky, and more immediately satisfying... virtues are typically developed as a consequence of performing actions that are, at least initially, difficult. As Aristotle noted, virtues result from actions that pull against certain natural tendencies that would otherwise lead us away from excellence."
Face-to-face interaction is awkward at times. Keeping up with friends and family can be bothersome. Platforms like Facebook and Snapchat exist to solve these problems associated with socializing, but the allure of their convenience and ease could replace those uncomfortable interactions that may be necessary to build virtues like patience, honesty, or empathy.
As a concluding remark, Vallor acknowledges the other side of the picture, describing how social networking technologies could aid in alleviating social pressures leading to deceive and maintain face, or tendencies to cling to physical groups. Moving forward, how should we take into account the strengths and weaknesses of these technologies? Should social platforms like Facebook leverage the benefits that difficult face-to-face interactions provide? Should Snapchat get rid of its "streak" functionality to dissuade pointless conversations? Should the simple act of sending messages or friend requests be more complex and nuanced?
Applying virtue ethics to designing technological tools, we must consider not only how the tool could assist us, but also how it could build upon our virtues, even if it means to sacrifice the efficiency and expedience that we're so used to.
References:
Vallor, S. Ethics Inf Technol (2010) 12:157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-009-9202-1
This post does a great job of introducing a concept from the reading, and connecting it to a concept we can all understand throughout the post. I especially liked your use of bolding words to make certain phrases stand out.
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, good read! I like how easily you relate this topic to the readings. The bold text was also nice in emphasizing key points along the way. I still agree with a comment I saw on your previous post of this: this does read like an essay. I mean, a good essay. But still, I would have liked to see this be a little more upbeat. Maybe including small personal stories here and there would have made this feel less essay-ish.
ReplyDeleteI would also be interested in hearing you build off Vallor a little bit more and maybe trying to answer of brainstorm how tech can be virtuous, if at all. Overall, really good article! Good job!
After reading through both your first draft and revised draft, I really liked the thoughtfulness and insight of your blog post. Although I do like the revised thought about Snapchat, I think it could be brought up more smoothly to create a more cohesive piece. Overall, I thought this was a really insightful post, though.
ReplyDeleteYour post is informative and very well written! I like how your whole post revolves around the readings while bringing in another viewpoint and example of social media networks. If I had any critiques it would be to write less formally and more in blog post style.
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