In an article written for the New York Times, author William Cohan poses the question, “Should the smart-money crowd be held accountable for the harm caused to people who use the products and services created with the money that springs from their coffers?” (Cohan 1). The product he has in mind is a popular app called Yik Yak. It allows users to post messages on any subject anonymously on college campuses; the biggest issue this raises is the ability to post racist, threatening, or misogynistic messages without consequences. There have been petitions to shut down the app and that investors should bear some responsibility for financing it. I will argue that some of Yik Yak’s users are immoral, and that users should be held responsible for the …show more content…
There are responsibilities that come along with respecting others; it means we have to be individuals, and to be an individual we must behave independently of prejudices, personal preferences, or self- serving motives (Ingram, Parks 146). As individuals we are given reason and will; due to this we are members of the “kingdom of ends”. When people post spitefully they are not being respectful – they are allowing prejudices to control their behavior, which violates the respect that all members of the “kingdom of ends” deserve. Kant argues further that people should be punished for their wrong actions, which also supports my notion that users should be held responsible for what they are posting …show more content…
In short, posting a distasteful message just because someone else did is not morally justifiable. In order to live ethically, we must act consistently and rationally; anonymous hate messages would have to be posted by every single person, no exceptions, in order to be considered a moral obligation. Some possible solutions to the ethical dilemmas that Yik Yak causes are making the app less anonymous so users are more accountable for what they post. Currently, the only way to reveal who posted a “yak” is through a subpoena or court order. A different and more extreme measure would be to shut the app down completely. As I stated previously, there is an online petition with more than 78,000 signatures urging that Yik Yak be terminated indefinitely (Cohan
In “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” Dana Fleming presents an essay concerning the safety of social networking sites and how Universities can deal and prevent problems. This article is targeted towards school administrators, faculty, and a social networking user audience who will either agree or disagree with her statement. I believe Fleming presents an excellent, substantial case for why she reasons the way she does. Fleming gives a sound, logical argument according to Toulmin’s Schema. This essay has an evident enthymeme, which has a claim and reasons why she believes in that way. Toulmin refers to this as “grounds."
While social media can be an exceptional tool for connecting with others and gaining valuable information, it also can be easily transformed into a playground for senseless arguments and cyberbullying. Just as Abigail Williams used elaborate accusations towards innocent people for her benefit, people engage in plenty of finger-pointing and fear-mongering daily. The shame and fear generated by this is not far from the craze of McCarthyism from half a century ago. Furthermore, social media can be a catalyst for the destruction of privacy: there is no limit to how much one can share. Everyone in “The Crucible” has inner humiliations that haunt their minds, from John Proctor’s adultery to Reverend Hale’s inner moral conflict towards Salem’s trials. Today, with one click, these personal demons can easily be set free.
During one of the questions I got a notification that a friend had sent me a picture; my curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the notification. When I opened it I saw that it was a screenshot of a Yak – about me. It said “What happened to Jagadam.” I was shocked that anyone cared enough to ask. I wanted so badly to say something but instead I just reported the yak. Anything I commented had the same value the post had – there is never value in defending yourself to an anonymous hater. I saw the post accumulate comments – people, it seemed, had my life all mapped out in their heads. There were some semi-accurate comments, some ridiculous ones, and some that were just rude. I asked some of my friends to down vote it and report it and by the middle of the next hour it was
...ing its targets down, therefore people must learn to successfully overcome the feelings that it intends to induce. Like Rauch says, people must not try to eradicate hate speech, rather criticize and try to correct it. There is no wrong in standing up for yourself but there is an enormous wrong in limiting speech, hateful or not.
Over the past fifteen years, the use of social media by both the general public and by the business world has expanded dramatically. Social media is one of a number of social technologies - any technological device or technique that can be used to facilitate communication between individuals. Social technology includes everything from the telephone to Wikipedia. Social media, on the other hand, is the use of media platforms which were specifically create to connect users with other users and give them a peak into each other's lives by allowing them exchange information, messages, ideas, pictures, and other personal communication. However, it’s been known to abuse this rapidly growing technology.
A social media post that creates negativity as well as a civil issue for both the individual and the fire and emergency service can occur through intentional malice or occur accidently. “It is rare for firefighters to post in malice but it does happen” (Roberts, 2012, para. 3). Timothy Dluhos, a FDNY Emergency Medical Service Lieutenant, is facing legal action along with the department, due to a social media post ranting about a patient and posting a photo of the patient in a wheel chair with a wide load sign photo shopped into the photo (Saul, 2013). While it is unclear if FDNY has a policy on social media postings, the woman is seeking damages from emotional suffering and Lieutenant Dluhos has since resigned from his position with FDNY (Saul, 2013). Many argue that the use and posting on social media is his or her constitutional right, however the first amendment of the United States Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or a...
Since being introduced in the 1990s, social networking sites have taken over people’s lives. From Facebook to Twitter and Snapchat to Instagram, these social networking sites are included in our day to day life. People use these sites to keep in touch with each other and the world. As a prominent fixture of our lives, social networking has a great influence over our opinions, decisions, and perspectives. Out of all its users, teenagers are the most susceptible to social networking’s influence; it can lead them to living an ethically right life that fosters learning and goodwill, or an ethically wrong life that encourages addictions and bad behavior.
Social media and technology plays a huge part in today’s society. People do things and post them up thinking it won’t affect them in the future. Once something is uploaded onto the internet it never goes away. In his essay, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting,” published in July of 2010, written by Jeffrey Rosen, a Professor at Law at the George Washington University Law School and a graduate from Harvard College and Yale Law School. Rosen argues that the issue of social media sites in the new era we are living in is getting hard for us to forget the things we post on the internet like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Instagram, etc. Rosen states, “... the Internet never seems to forget which is threatening, at an almost existential level, our
As social media has become more relevant in my generation, I have begun to see just how hate speech has evolved over time. Recently, a video from a campaign movement was posted on our class canvas page that expressed different stand points on why hate speech should be stopped. I gained a stronger opinion on banning hate speech, especially now that people are finding ways to use fighting words anonymously and not within a political view. In this video one of the interviewee’s mentioned how people online have the mindset that they do not have to take responsibility for the crud words they say over the internet because it is anonymous and they are not saying it directly to someone’s face they cannot be punished. Things that are viewed and said over social media can come off as very offensive. I think a common thing that is misunderstood by many is that there are different forms of hate speech and using social media to hide your identity is just one of them. We need to address all forms of hate speech and not just the cases seen in public
Hate speech is a very important topic, especially in the United States. Many do not know the thin line between criticisms and hate speech. One way criticism and hate speech differ is the intention of hate speech, if it was used purposely for “the stirring of hatred and hostility t...
Jacob Silverman’s writing documents the significant price that users of social media pay for their constant online connection. Silverman argues that people have left the Silicon-Valley companies to take not only charge of their lives but also shape their behaviors. Moreover, Silverman looks at how social media has destroyed people’s lives; while people pretend to be happy on social media, the reality is that they are indeed unhappy in real life situations. He argues his ideas on the destruction of social media in a total of thirteen chapters that range from the ideology of social media to social media rebellion. The other section includes the notion of engineered to like, ‘pics, or it didn’t
Sandler, Ronald L. Ethics and Emerging Technologies. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2013. Print.
Anonymity can bring out the worst in people – people may become bullies, openly racist or sexist, or may even threaten or provoke others. The latest example of this behavior comes from student protests at this campus where racial tension recently led to the resignation of Mizzou’s university president. As evidence for racism in the campus community, the student body president had screenshots from this anonymous social platform. Launched in 2013, Yik Yak spread quickly enough to become a core mode of interaction among students in many universities and colleges because of its features of anonymity and transience of identity. As a social network, it is the perfect platform to provide a glimpse into the culture of a local community where people are free to not hold back any discrepancies. As is often with the case of anonymity, sometimes what people see is bullying, hate speech, and threats; however, the content like the hate speech and threats from Missouri are actually largely the exception for Yik Yak culture. Yik Yak feed usually contains typical sexual jokes and complaints about classes and weather, along with strains with positive messages of
The 90's internet boom gave rise to new ways of writing in through access to cyberspace. What used to be printed or handwritten on physical surfaces such as paper, cardboard, or bulletin boards has changed to 0's and 1's, bits and bytes of digitized information that can be displayed thru the projections of computer screens. Moreover, the internet has made the process of publishing one's works, writing letters, or chatting with one another much easier and convenient for everyone around the globe. The internet became a universal tool, giving much freedom and flexibility to the users; it gave them opportunity to deliver their thoughts with little or no restrictions. Since it's impossible to regulate all cyber-activities, internet users are often unrestricted by the normal laws or authorities that would set boundaries around the various online transactions. More importantly, the fact that a net user can take on different identities in cyberspace brings about several ethical and social issues. These anonymous and unrestrictive characteristics of cyberspace often permite abusive users to easily involve themselves in serious cybercrimes such as cyberstalking, cyber-rape, and cyber-harassment through chatting services, emails, cyber communities, and other online communication.
Salman, A. S. (2013, June 2). Dealing with Ethical Issues among Internet Users: Do We Need Legal Enforcement? Asian Social Science, pp. 9(8), 3-8. doi:10.5539/ass.v9n8p3.