“Conversation of mankind” or “idle talk”?: A pragmatist approach to social networking sites
Ethics and Information Technology (forthcoming)
| Abstract | What do Social Networking Sites (SNS) ‘do to us’: are they a damning threat or an emancipating force? Recent publications on the impact of “Web 2.0” proclaim very opposite evaluative positions. With the aim of finding a middle ground, this paper develops a pragmatist approach to SNS based on the work of Richard Rorty. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, we analyze SNS as conversational practices. Second, we outline, in the form of an imaginary conversation between Rorty and Heidegger, a positive and negative ‘conversational’ view on SNS. Third, we deploy a reflection, again using Rortian notions, on that evaluation, starting from the concept of ‘self-reflectivity.’ Finally, the relations between these three steps are more detailedly investigated. By way of the sketched technique, we can interrelate the two opposing sides of the recent debates—hope and threat—and judge SNS in all their ambiguity. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJessica Ringrose (2011). Beyond Discourse? Using Deleuze and Guattari's Schizoanalysis to Explore Affective Assemblages, Heterosexually Striated Space, and Lines of Flight Online and at School. Educational Philosophy and Theory 43 (6):598-618.
Shannon Vallor (forthcoming). Social Networking Technology and the Virtues. Ethics and Information Technology.
Soraj Hongladarom (2011). Personal Identity and the Self in the Online and Offline World. Minds and Machines 21 (4):533-548.
Robert B. Talisse (2011). Toward a New Pragmatist Politics. Metaphilosophy 42 (5):552-571.
Jack Bilmes (2011). Occasioned Semantics: A Systematic Approach to Meaning in Talk. Human Studies 34 (2):129-153.
Gordon Hull, Heather Richter Lipford & Celine Latulipe (2011). Contextual Gaps: Privacy Issues on Facebook. Ethics and Information Technology 13 (4):289-302.
Leigh A. Clark & Sherry J. Roberts (forthcoming). Employer's Use of Social Networking Sites: A Socially Irresponsible Practice. Journal of Business Ethics.
James L. Parrish (forthcoming). Papa Knows Best: Principles for the Ethical Sharing of Information on Social Networking Sites. Ethics and Information Technology.
William P. Smith (2008). You've Been Tagged! (Then Again, Maybe Not). Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 19:35-42.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-05-07Total downloads22 ( #56,170 of 549,067 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,185 of 549,067 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
