Social Media and Morality
Losing our Self Control

This book explains the mediating effects of social media on our morality.

Lisa S. Nelson (Author)

9781107164932, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 June 2018

230 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.7 cm, 0.45 kg

'This ground-breaking book lays bare a new space for reflection and critique in our digital culture. By addressing how social media and networking technologies embody and influence moral frameworks and experiences, Lisa S. Nelson takes the current discussion on digital technologies beyond issues of privacy and control. Social Media and Morality is a much needed expansion and enrichment of the ethical discussion in our digital society.' Peter-Paul Verbeek, University of Twente

Is social media changing who we are? We assume social media is only a tool for our modern day communications and interactions, but is it quietly changing our identities and how we see the world and one another? Our current debate about the human behaviors behind social media misses the important effects these social networking technologies are having on our sense of shared morality and rationality. There has been much concern about the loss of privacy and anonymity in the Information Age, but little attention has been paid to the consequences and effects of social media and the behavior they engender on the Internet. In order to understand how social media influences our morality, Lisa S. Nelson suggests a new methodological approach to social media and its effect on society. Instead of beginning with the assumption that we control our use of social media, this book considers how the phenomenological effects of social media influences our actions, decisions, and, ultimately, who we are and who we become. This important study will inform a new direction in policy and legal regulation for these increasingly important technologies.

1. Introduction
2. The political significance of social media and the limits of our understanding
3. The moral significance of social networking technologies
4. Why we do what we do
5. Time consciousness and the specious present of social media
6. Pretty is as pretty does
7. Revealing the moral self in the context of us
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: IT & Communications law [LNQ], Political science & theory [JPA], Ethical issues: scientific & technological developments [JFMG], Social interaction [JFFP]