Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction

Abstract

Social media companies commonly design their platforms in a way that renders them addictive. Some governments have declared internet addiction a major public health concern, and the World Health Organization has characterized excessive internet use as a growing problem. Our article shows why scholars, policy makers, and the managers of social media companies should treat social media addiction as a serious moral problem. While the benefits of social media are not negligible, we argue that social media addiction raises unique ethical concerns not raised by other, more familiar addictive products, such as alcohol and cigarettes. In particular, we argue that addicting users to social media is impermissible because it unjustifiably harms users in a way that is both demeaning and objectionably exploitative. Importantly, the attention-economy business model of social media companies strongly incentivizes them to perpetrate this wrongdoing.

Exploring the Dimensions of Smartphone Distraction: Development, Validation, Measurement Invariance, and Latent Mean Differences of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS)

“…Problematic social media use , reflects a prolonged pathological engagement with social media content ( 119 ), which may be mediated by distraction and constant checking ( 11 , 40 , 83 , 120 ). The current literature suggests that frequent smartphone checking behaviors ( 91 , 121 ) have been associated with distraction ( 46 , 122 , 123 ) and habitual use ( 94 , 121 ) fueled by FOMO, neurotic tendencies ( 124 ) and online vigilance (i.e., preoccupation with salient online content) ( 91 ).…”

“…Concerns have been raised that the increased pressures for digitally juggling remote working with social, recreational, and information demands may be contributing to difficulties maintaining a healthy work-life balance (5) and the onset of mental health difficulties such as occupational burnout (6,7). Additionally, online social spaces are influencing users with persuasive design (i.e., rolling feeds), prompting high cue reactivity and prolonged use of and overreliance on digital devices (8)(9)(10)(11). Multitasking, multiple device use, and frequent attentional shifts are salient behaviors potentially leading to digital information overload (12)(13)(14).…”

Brand as Promise

“…Third, there are additional questions our account points to that arise in virtue of technological advances. As social media plays an increasingly significant role in branding, some firms encourage their employees to serve as brand ambassadors on social media (Bhargava & Velasquez, 2020;Cervellon & Lirio, 2017;Bedi, 2016). For example, firms might encourage employees to post about their experiences with products the company offers, workplace social events, and even the firm's social responsibility initiatives.…”

How Values Ground Value Creation: The practical inference framework

“…Even the intrinsic value of human health becomes an algorithmic issue, in the form of algorithmic "addiction." Advancing our understanding of such an issue requires a mix of disciplinary talents, including psychology, philosophy, and economics, as Bhargava and Velasquez (2020) demonstrate in their work on algorithmic addictiveness. This division of labor includes the use of divergent research methods to close gaps in the practical inference process.…”