2024
Cristina, Voinea; Marin, Lavinia; Vica, Constantin
Digital Slot Machines: Social Media Platforms as Attentional Scaffolds Journal Article
In: Topoi, 2024, ISSN: 1572-8749.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Attention, Social media, Social media technologies
@article{Cristina2024,
title = {Digital Slot Machines: Social Media Platforms as Attentional Scaffolds},
author = {Voinea Cristina and Lavinia Marin and Constantin Vica},
url = {https://www.esdit.nl/digital-slot-machines/},
doi = {10.1007/s11245-024-10031-0},
issn = {1572-8749},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-03-02},
urldate = {2024-03-02},
journal = {Topoi},
abstract = {In this paper we introduce the concept of attentional scaffolds and show the resemblance between social media platforms and slot machines, both functioning as hostile attentional scaffolds. The first section establishes the groundwork for the concept of attentional scaffolds and draws parallels to the mechanics of slot machines, to argue that social media platforms aim to capture users’ attention to maximize engagement through a system of intermittent rewards. The second section shifts focus to the interplay between emotions and attention, revealing how online attentional capture through emotionally triggering stimuli leads to distraction. The final section elucidates the collective implications of scaffolding attention through social media platforms. The examination of phenomena such as emotional contagion and the emergence of group emotions underscores the transition from individual experiences to shared collective outcomes. Employing online moral outrage as a case study, we illustrate how negative emotions serve as scaffolds for individuals’ attention, propagate within social groups, and give rise to collective attitudes.},
keywords = {Attention, Social media, Social media technologies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this paper we introduce the concept of attentional scaffolds and show the resemblance between social media platforms and slot machines, both functioning as hostile attentional scaffolds. The first section establishes the groundwork for the concept of attentional scaffolds and draws parallels to the mechanics of slot machines, to argue that social media platforms aim to capture users’ attention to maximize engagement through a system of intermittent rewards. The second section shifts focus to the interplay between emotions and attention, revealing how online attentional capture through emotionally triggering stimuli leads to distraction. The final section elucidates the collective implications of scaffolding attention through social media platforms. The examination of phenomena such as emotional contagion and the emergence of group emotions underscores the transition from individual experiences to shared collective outcomes. Employing online moral outrage as a case study, we illustrate how negative emotions serve as scaffolds for individuals’ attention, propagate within social groups, and give rise to collective attitudes.
2023
van de Poel, Ibo; Frank, Lily; Hermann, Julia; Hopster, Jeroen; Lenzi, Dominic; Nyholm, Sven; Taebi, Behnam; Ziliotti, Elena (Ed.)
Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies: An Introduction Book
Open Book Publishers, 2023.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, artificial wombs, Climate engineering, Social media, Social robots, Society, Technology
@book{vandePoel2023,
title = {Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies: An Introduction},
editor = {Ibo van de Poel and Lily Frank and Julia Hermann and Jeroen Hopster and Dominic Lenzi and Sven Nyholm and Behnam Taebi and Elena Ziliotti},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0366},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-09-05},
urldate = {2023-09-05},
publisher = {Open Book Publishers},
abstract = {Technologies shape who we are, how we organize our societies and how we relate to nature. For example, social media challenges democracy; artificial intelligence raises the question of what is unique to humans; and the possibility to create artificial wombs may affect notions of motherhood and birth. Some have suggested that we address global warming by engineering the climate, but how does this impact our responsibility to future generations and our relation to nature?
This book shows how technologies can be socially and conceptually disruptive and investigates how to come to terms with this disruptive potential.
Four technologies are studied: social media, social robots, climate engineering and artificial wombs. The authors highlight the disruptive potential of these technologies, and the new questions this raises. The book also discusses responses to conceptual disruption, like conceptual engineering, the deliberate revision of concepts.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, artificial wombs, Climate engineering, Social media, Social robots, Society, Technology},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
Technologies shape who we are, how we organize our societies and how we relate to nature. For example, social media challenges democracy; artificial intelligence raises the question of what is unique to humans; and the possibility to create artificial wombs may affect notions of motherhood and birth. Some have suggested that we address global warming by engineering the climate, but how does this impact our responsibility to future generations and our relation to nature?
This book shows how technologies can be socially and conceptually disruptive and investigates how to come to terms with this disruptive potential.
Four technologies are studied: social media, social robots, climate engineering and artificial wombs. The authors highlight the disruptive potential of these technologies, and the new questions this raises. The book also discusses responses to conceptual disruption, like conceptual engineering, the deliberate revision of concepts.
This book shows how technologies can be socially and conceptually disruptive and investigates how to come to terms with this disruptive potential.
Four technologies are studied: social media, social robots, climate engineering and artificial wombs. The authors highlight the disruptive potential of these technologies, and the new questions this raises. The book also discusses responses to conceptual disruption, like conceptual engineering, the deliberate revision of concepts.
Ziliotti, Elena; Benavides, Patricia Reyes; Gwagwa, Arthur; Dennis, Matthew
Social Media and Democracy Book Chapter
In: van de Poel, Ibo; Frank, Lily; Hermann, Julia; Hopster, Jeroen; Lenzi, Dominic; Nyholm, Sven; Taebi, Behnam; Ziliotti, Elena (Ed.): Chapter 2, pp. 33-52, Open Book Publishers, 2023.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Democracy, Social media
@inbook{Ziliotti2023b,
title = {Social Media and Democracy},
author = {Elena Ziliotti and Patricia Reyes Benavides and Arthur Gwagwa and Matthew Dennis},
editor = {Ibo van de Poel and Lily Frank and Julia Hermann and Jeroen Hopster and Dominic Lenzi and Sven Nyholm and Behnam Taebi and Elena Ziliotti},
url = {https://www.esdit.nl/obp-0366-02/},
doi = {10.11647/obp.0366.02},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-09-05},
urldate = {2023-09-05},
pages = {33-52},
publisher = {Open Book Publishers},
chapter = {2},
abstract = {Has social media disrupted the concept of democracy? This complex question has become more pressing than ever as social media have become a ubiquitous part of democratic societies worldwide. This chapter discusses social media’s effects at three critical levels of democratic politics (personal relationships among democratic citizens, national politics, and international politics) and argues that social media pressures the conceptual limits of democracy. This new digital communication infrastructure challenges some of the fundamental elements of the concept of democracy. By giving citizens and non-citizens equal substantive access to online political debates that shape the political agenda, social media has drastically expanded and opened up the notion of demos and public sphere (the communicative space where citizens come together to form and exchange opinions and define collective problems), and misaligned the conceptual relationship of public sphere with the idea of demos. These conclusions have multiple implications. They indicate engineers’ and designers’ new political responsibility, novel normative challenges for research in political and moral philosophy, security and legal frameworks, and ultimately they shed light on how to do politics in digital democratic societies.},
keywords = {Democracy, Social media},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
Has social media disrupted the concept of democracy? This complex question has become more pressing than ever as social media have become a ubiquitous part of democratic societies worldwide. This chapter discusses social media’s effects at three critical levels of democratic politics (personal relationships among democratic citizens, national politics, and international politics) and argues that social media pressures the conceptual limits of democracy. This new digital communication infrastructure challenges some of the fundamental elements of the concept of democracy. By giving citizens and non-citizens equal substantive access to online political debates that shape the political agenda, social media has drastically expanded and opened up the notion of demos and public sphere (the communicative space where citizens come together to form and exchange opinions and define collective problems), and misaligned the conceptual relationship of public sphere with the idea of demos. These conclusions have multiple implications. They indicate engineers’ and designers’ new political responsibility, novel normative challenges for research in political and moral philosophy, security and legal frameworks, and ultimately they shed light on how to do politics in digital democratic societies.
Cristina, Voinea; Marin, Lavinia; Vică, Constantin
The moral source of collective irrationality during COVID-19 vaccination campaigns Journal Article
In: Philosophical Psychology, vol. 36, iss. 5, pp. 1-20, 2023.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Collective irrationality, COVID-19, Moral reasons, Social media, Vaccine hesitancy
@article{nokey,
title = {The moral source of collective irrationality during COVID-19 vaccination campaigns},
author = {Voinea Cristina and Lavinia Marin and Constantin Vică},
url = {https://www.esdit.nl/the-moral-source-of-collective-irrationality-during-covid-19-vaccination-campaigns/},
doi = {10.1080/09515089.2022.2164264},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-03},
urldate = {2023-01-03},
journal = {Philosophical Psychology},
volume = {36},
issue = {5},
pages = {1-20},
abstract = {Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain the collective irrationality of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, such as partisanship and ideology, exposure to misinformation and conspiracy theories or the effectiveness of public messaging. This paper presents a complementary explanation to epistemic accounts of collective irrationality, focusing on the moral reasons underlying people’s decisions regarding vaccination. We argue that the moralization of COVID-19 risk mitigation measures contributed to the polarization of groups along moral values, which ultimately led to the emergence of collective irrational behaviors. Collective irrationality arises from groups explicitly or implicitly endorsing values that ultimately harm both themselves and those around. The role of social media platforms in amplifying this polarization and contributing to the emergence of collective irrationality is also examined. Finally, potential strategies for addressing the moral sources of collective irrationality are discussed.},
keywords = {Collective irrationality, COVID-19, Moral reasons, Social media, Vaccine hesitancy},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain the collective irrationality of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, such as partisanship and ideology, exposure to misinformation and conspiracy theories or the effectiveness of public messaging. This paper presents a complementary explanation to epistemic accounts of collective irrationality, focusing on the moral reasons underlying people’s decisions regarding vaccination. We argue that the moralization of COVID-19 risk mitigation measures contributed to the polarization of groups along moral values, which ultimately led to the emergence of collective irrational behaviors. Collective irrationality arises from groups explicitly or implicitly endorsing values that ultimately harm both themselves and those around. The role of social media platforms in amplifying this polarization and contributing to the emergence of collective irrationality is also examined. Finally, potential strategies for addressing the moral sources of collective irrationality are discussed.
2022
Steinert, Steffen; Marin, Lavinia; Roeser, Sabine
Feeling and thinking on social media: emotions, affective scaffolding, and critical thinking Journal Article
In: Inquiry, pp. 1-22, 2022.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Affective niche, Affective scaffolding, Critical thinking, Emotions, Social media, Technical mediation
@article{nokey,
title = {Feeling and thinking on social media: emotions, affective scaffolding, and critical thinking},
author = {Steffen Steinert and Lavinia Marin and Sabine Roeser},
doi = {10.1080/0020174X.2022.2126148},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-10-14},
urldate = {2022-10-14},
journal = {Inquiry},
pages = {1-22},
keywords = {Affective niche, Affective scaffolding, Critical thinking, Emotions, Social media, Technical mediation},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Dennis, Matthew; Clancy, Rockwell F.
Intercultural Ethics for Digital Well-Being: Identifying Problems and Exploring Solutions Journal Article
In: Digital Society, vol. 1, no. 7, 2022.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Digital technologies, Digital well-being, Intercultural ethics, Social media
@article{nokey,
title = {Intercultural Ethics for Digital Well-Being: Identifying Problems and Exploring Solutions},
author = {Matthew Dennis and Rockwell F. Clancy},
doi = {10.1007/s44206-022-00006-2},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-07-30},
journal = {Digital Society},
volume = {1},
number = {7},
keywords = {Digital technologies, Digital well-being, Intercultural ethics, Social media},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Marin, Lavinia
In: Topoi, vol. 41, pp. 425-437, 2022.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Enactive cognition, Enactive ethics, Human-computer interaction, Mediation, Online environments, Relational ethics, Social media
@article{nokey,
title = {Enactive Principles for the Ethics of User Interactions on Social Media: How to Overcome Systematic Misunderstandings Through Shared Meaning-Making},
author = {Lavinia Marin},
doi = {10.1007/s11245-021-09792-9},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-11},
journal = {Topoi},
volume = {41},
pages = {425-437},
keywords = {Enactive cognition, Enactive ethics, Human-computer interaction, Mediation, Online environments, Relational ethics, Social media},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2021
Hopster, Jeroen
Mutual Affordances. The Dynamics between Social Media and Populism Journal Article
In: Media, Culture & Society, vol. 43, iss. 3, pp. 551-560, 2021.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Affordances, Algorithms, Attention economy, Populism, Social media, Socially disruptive technologies
@article{Hopster2021c,
title = {Mutual Affordances. The Dynamics between Social Media and Populism},
author = {Jeroen Hopster},
doi = {10.1177/0163443720957889},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-01},
urldate = {2021-04-01},
journal = {Media, Culture & Society},
volume = {43},
issue = {3},
pages = {551-560},
keywords = {Affordances, Algorithms, Attention economy, Populism, Social media, Socially disruptive technologies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}