New Social Media and Virtues

Class: PHIL-282
Author: Shannon Vallor
Title: New Social Media and Virtues

Main Question: How does habitual use of new social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) affect our character, especially the development of social virtues essential for a good life?
Framework: Uses Aristotelian virtue ethics.
- Virtue: A habit of acting excellently, which helps one flourish. Virtues are formed by repeating specific actions.
- Key Idea: What we repeatedly do shapes our moral character. Since technology changes our regular activities, it can reshape our moral development.
Focus: Examines three "communicative virtues": Patience, Honesty, and Empathy.

Definition: The ability to listen without interrupting, to endure moments of boredom or irritation in conversation, and to show commitment to a relationship beyond its immediate rewards.
How It's Built: Traditionally developed in face-to-face communication, where the physical presence of another person ("the gaze of the morally significant other") holds us in place and forces us to be patient.
Impact of New Social Media:
- Inhibits Patience: Social media offers easy "escape routes" from conversations that are boring or difficult. You can just click away.
- Favors Brevity: Formats like tweets and status updates are designed for "instant digestibility," removing the need for patience.
- Challenge: Can new social media create features that encourage patience, similar to the power of a person's gaze?

Definition: More than just not lying about your identity. It's the virtue of putting your authentic self in play during communication, which involves social risks like judgment or rejection.
Virtue as a "Mean": Honesty is the middle ground between two vices:
- Deficiency: Deceitfulness.
- Excess: Tactless or vulgar lack of reserve (oversharing).
Impact of New Social Media:
- Can Inhibit Honesty: Profiles often show a carefully edited and controlled image of a person, which may not be authentic.
- Can Promote Honesty:
  - Online networks can provide supportive spaces for people (e.g., LGBTQ+ youth) to express their authentic selves when they can't do so locally.
  - Blogs offer opportunities for self-expression and personal reflection.

Definition: The capacity and habit of feeling with and for others, sharing in their joys and sufferings.
How It's Built: Traditionally depends on access to the embodied presence of another's emotion. Visceral reactions to seeing someone's suffering (e.g., offering a physical embrace) are key.
Impact of New Social Media:
- Can Inhibit Empathy: Online communication can eliminate the "visceral reactions" that build empathy. It provides a "physical buffer" from another's pain.
- Can Promote Empathy: Support networks for people with rare illnesses or victims of crime allow for a unique kind of shared experience and understanding.

The Core Conflict: Virtues are developed by doing things that are initially difficult, risky, or uncomfortable. However, most social media are designed to make communication easier, less risky, and more immediately satisfying.
The Challenge: Will social media provide only easy alternatives, or can they be designed to support the challenges necessary for building virtue?
Final Point: Since how we learn to communicate is how we learn to live a good life with others, it is crucial for designers, marketers, and users to reflect on the importance of these virtues.