the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction

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.

See the article 

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2020