34 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2025
    1. So, looking back at Meta’s goal (getting the most users possible to use Meta, and only Meta for social media), let’s look at some obstacles and how Meta tries to overcome these obstacles: Obstacle: Users don’t want ads on Facebook Solution: No ads until Facebook has attracted enough users (network power) so that users won’t leave when ads are introduced (Facebook introduced ads in 2007) Obstacle: People speak different languages Solution: Increase language support of Facebook so more people can use the site Obstacle: Not everyone has the internet Solution: Give them free internet [s45], but push them to Facebook while doing so (called Free Basic [s46]) Obstacle: A competing company social media company has a user base (e.g., Instagram, Snapchat [s47]) Solution: Try to purchase the company, or copy their features

      in my opinion, in order to solve these obstacles, the company need to have a lot of money. Im also curious about how the first obstacle and its solution would work because why do people not leave when the ads are introduced since they didn't want it. How do creator make users so obsessed with their website.

  2. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. White Man's Burden. URL: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhiteMansBurden (visited on 2023-12-10).

      White Man's Burden is a metaphor for white protagonist helping people of color like a mentor. It is a sign of western imperialism. In some books, author focuses on the goodness of the white characters meanwhile the minority characters are just there for the development of plot, ignoring minorities' culture.

  3. Nov 2025
    1. Do you believe crowd harassment is ever justified?

      I think it depends on the person. If the person is being harassed because they did something wrong, like saying something morally wrong on the internet, maybe they are worth some punishment. But people shouldn't harass others online just because of personal conflicts or having different opinions.

  4. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. FBI–King suicide letter. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1184939326. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter&oldid=1184939326 (visited on 2023-12-10).

      The FBI-King letter is a letter by the FBI to blackmail Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King got sent a letter about his sexual indiscretion in 1964. He thought the intention of this letter was to let him commit suicide. After a few years, a radical organization stole the documents.  These documents revealed the COINTELPRO project. All these were used against Martin Luther King Jr. 

    1. 16.1.1. Different Ways of Collaborating and Communicating

      In my opinion, I think it is great to have all these methods of communicating online. These ways makes online communication so much more interesting and secured. In different scenarios, different methods can maximize the efficiency of the communication and create a better place for all the internet users.

  5. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Adriana Diaz. Twitter tracks down mystery couple in viral proposal photos. New York Post, June 2021. URL: https://nypost.com/2021/06/24/twitter-tracks-down-mystery-couple-in-viral-proposal-photos/ (visited on 2023-12-08).

      This article is about how a couple’s proposal moment was captured by an unknown photographer. The photographer then posted the pictures without permission to find the couple. The twitte went viral and people found that couple. This is a very heartwarming cause of crowdsourcing. The couple got a lot of blessing by strangers online.

    1. 15.1. Types of Content Moderator Set-Ups#

      It is very interesting to learn about all these different types of methods to moderate websites. From these texts I can really see how different it could be using different methods to run the website. Personally, the individuals moderating their own spaces method feels very easy and the most customizable. Individuals can personalize their own moderation, however, I do think it is important to still have some moderation from other parties like the moderation teams because not everyone knows and willing to do things themselves.

  6. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Brian Resnick. The 2018 Nobel Prize reminds us that women scientists too often go unrecognized. Vox, October 2018. URL: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/10/2/17929366/nobel-prize-physics-donna-strickland (visited on 2023-12-08).

      This article is about how women scientists are not getting recognized enough. Donna Strickland is a physicist, she invented a lot of things that’s helpful to the society. However, she did not have a wikipedia page until she won the noble prize. There were only three women in total that have won the noble prize in physics, and women in the science field are usually undervalued and invisible. All these contribute to the stereotype of scientists as male and create barriers for women who want to pursue in STEM.

    1. Kant was influenced by ideas that were trending in his time–the European era we call the “Enlightenment”, which became very interested in the idea of rationality. We could write books about what they meant by the idea of “rationality”, and Kant certainly did so, but you probably already have a decent idea of what rationality is about. Rationalism tries to use reasoning, logical argument, and scientific evidence to figure out what to make of the world. Kant took this idea and ran with it, exploring the question of what if everything, even morality, could be derived from looking at rationality in the abstract. Many philosophers and, let’s face it, many sensible people since Kant have questioned whether his project could succeed, or whether his question was even a good question to be asking. Can one person really get that kind of “god’s-eye view” of ultimate rationality? People disagree a lot about what would be the most rational way to live. Some philosophers even suggested that it is hard to think about what is rational or reasonable without our take being skewed by our own aims and egos. We instinctively take whatever suits our own goals and frame it in the shape of reasons. Those who do not want their wealth taxed have reasons in the shape of rational arguments for why they should not be taxed. Those who do believe wealth should be taxed have reasons in the shape of rational arguments for why taxes should be imposed. Our motivations can massively affect which of those rationales we find to be most rational. This is what John Rawls wanted to address.

      Personally thinking, there is no absolute rationality unless that thing has nothing to do with ourselves. We won't get hurt or benefit from it, then we can be more rational. I agree with the textbook that people always have their own reasons. I think people are all selfish to a extend which is totally normal. When it comes to a problem, we always think about how to benefit us the most because ourselves always comes first. Therefore, there is no rationality and no "god's eye view".

  7. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Anil Dash. Against “Don’t Read the Comments”. Humane Tech, January 2016. URL: https://medium.com/humane-tech/against-don-t-read-the-comments-aee43ce515b9 (visited on 2023-12-08).

      This article is about how some out of date assumption of users make websites repeatedly make mistake when building an interactivity. Marginalized users are being abused and due to this issue, people start joking and saying “Don’t read the comments. ” People use this phrase to cope with the platform that doesn’t prevent their users from harassment. The creator of the site should also take account of users behaviors on their sites to build a better online community.

    1. It can be difficult to measure the effects of social media on mental health since there are so many types of social media, and it permeates our cultures even of people who don’t use it directly.

      This chapter talks about how social media affect people's mental health in different ways. Some people think social media affects you in a bad way, but some people believe it is helpful for your mental health. It really depends on how and why people are using social media. Social media is bad for teenage girls' mental health because it sometimes brings anxiety for them. But I also think social media helps people's mental health when a person has a certain problem and has no one to talk to or people can't relate to them; they can use social media as a way to find their community and get help.

  8. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Trauma Dumping. August 2021. URL: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trauma-dumping (visited on 2023-12-08).

      Trauma dumping is when a person unexpectedly shares a trauma story. The action of trauma dumping can be for different reasons. The term "trauma dumping" came from "emotional dumping," which is when people overshare their feelings. Trauma dumping wasn’t a big thing back in 2018 but then after people saw others gain views after trauma dumping on their social media, it became widely spread on the internet. 

    1. Since genes contained information about how organisms would grow and live, then biological evolution could be considered to be evolving information. Dawkins then took this idea of the evolution of information and applied it to culture, coining the term “meme” (intended to sound like “gene”

      Before reading this chapter I had never tied meme with the biological evolution, and I didn't know that the term "meme" comes from gene. It is very interesting to me how memes are spreading just like evolution process. Memes are spread super easily, and people edit it and spread it in so many different ways but still keeps the main theme. It is very interesting how people find different ways to express themselves on the internet with different memes.

  9. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Bean Dad. January 2021. URL: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/bean-dad (visited on 2023-12-08).

      A bean dad is about a person named John Roderick who tweeted a story of his 9-year-old daughter asking him to open a can of beans, but John Roderick thinks she should figure out how to open it herself. His daughter ended up spending hours just to open the can of beans. After he posted the tweet, people started accusing him, saying it is an abuse for him to treat his daughter like that. After this drama, people discovered more about John Roderick’s past controversies. Shortly, people turned this into a meme. Users edited this story to fit in a different scene. 

  10. Oct 2025
    1. Content recommendations can go well when users find content they are interested in. Sometimes algorithms do a good job of it and users are appreciative. TikTok has been mentioned in particular as providing surprisingly accurate recommendations, though Professor Arvind Narayanan argues [k11] that TikTok’s success with its recommendations relies less on advanced recommendation algorithms, and more on the design of the site making it very easy to skip the bad recommendations and get to the good ones.

      Majority of the times, people stay on one video for longer because they are interested at the content of the video. However, what if people continue playing that video just because they are doing something else and not paying attention to the video. I'm curious about wether the platform would count that as the interested content? Does the company only evaluate the amount of time that user spends on one video, or is there other perspective in the evaluation.

  11. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Systemic bias. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1185361788. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

      Systemic bias is a tendency of a particular outcome that favors or disfavors specific social groups. It is interchangeable with the term institutional bias and structural bias. Most of the times, systemic bias is used towards minorities, and it can lead to institutional racism. Due to systemic bias that occurs in organizations, it causes human resource mistreatment and decrease the productivity and viability of organizations.

  12. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. If a building only has staircases to get up to the second floor (it was built assuming everyone could walk up stairs), then someone who cannot get up stairs has a disability in that situation. If a physical picture book was made with the assumption that people would be able to see the pictures, then someone who cannot see has a disability in that situation. If tall grocery store shelves were made with the assumption that people would be able to reach them, then people who are short, or who can’t lift their arms up, or who can’t stand up, all would have a disability in that situation. If an airplane seat was designed with little leg room, assuming people’s legs wouldn’t be too long, then someone who is very tall, or who has difficulty bending their legs would have a disability in that situation.

      There is no actual way to determine whether someone is disabled or not since it is determined by the social expectation. We can't say someone is disabled just because they are not like what we expect them to be. Maybe disability is biased. Designers who have that mindset cannot take people with disabilities into consideration because they are not a part of them so they wouldn't understand. Disabled people's voices are also always underheard by the society because they are the minority, and not a lot of the majority care about them enough. Honestly, I can't imagine how inconvenient it is to live in this society as a disabled person.

  13. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Ash. Autism is NOT A Disability. July 2022. URL: https://www.autism360.com/autism-is-not-a-disability/ (visited on 2023-12-07).

      This URL is about Autism. The authors of this article think Autism shouldn't be considered as a disability. They think Autism can be disabling due to the co-occurs like dyslexia. People think Autism is a disability because of the misconceptions of meltdowns, and limited speech. The author of this article point out an idea of Autism people's brain function differently than common people, however, it doesn't mean that they are disabled.

    1. Unclear Privacy Rules: Sometimes privacy rules aren’t made clear to the people using a system. For example: If you send “private” messages on a work system, your boss might be able to read them [i19]. When Elon Musk purchased Twitter, he also was purchasing access to all Twitter Direct Messages [i20] Others Posting Without Permission: Someone may post something about another person without their permission. See in particular: The perils of ‘sharenting’: The parents who share too much [i21] Metadata: Sometimes the metadata that comes with content might violate someone’s privacy. For example, in 2012, former tech CEO John McAfee was a suspect in a murder in Belize [i22], John McAfee hid out in secret. But when Vice magazine wrote an article about him, the photos in the story contained metadata with the exact location in Guatemala [i23]. Deanonymizing Data: Sometimes companies or researchers release datasets that have been “anonymized,” meaning that things like names have been removed, so you can’t directly see who the data is about. But sometimes people can still deduce who the anonymized data is about. This happened when Netflix released anonymized movie ratings data sets, but at least some users’ data could be traced back to them [i24]. Inferred Data: Sometimes information that doesn’t directly exist can be inferred through data mining (as we saw last chapter), and the creation of that new information could be a privacy violation. This includes the creation of Shadow Profiles [i25], which are information about the user that the user didn’t provide or consent to Non-User Information: Social Media sites migh

      This section makes me think on the internet nowadays, there's absolutely no way to keep your information to yourself. People's information is in so many different companies, and users would not know how their information is being used either. Users has no control over their own privacy although it's something about themselves.

    1. Lyra Hale. New Book Says Facebook Employees Abused Access to Track and Stalk Women. The Mary Sue, July 2021. URL: https://www.themarysue.com/facebook-employees-abused-access-target-women/ (visited on 2023-12-06).

      This is an article about how Facebook employee abusing their access of data to harass women. The author of the book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination wrote about the crises that happened within the Facebook company over the past five years. It is very scary to me how employee abuses their power and put women in such dangerous position; and the woman won’t be able to know how her information gets leaked.

    1. One of the main goals of social media sites is to increase the time users are spending on their social media sites. The more time users spend, the more money the site can get from ads, and also the more power and influence those social media sites have over those users. So social media sites use the data they collect to try and figure out what keeps people using their site, and what can they do to convince those users they need to open it again later.

      My first though when I saw this is that they've been doing well on keeping people using their site. Personally, I am really affected by this because it works so well and I spend so much time on scrolling on my phone. Although this help people to see more interesting content but it really makes people addicted to the internet.

  14. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Kurt Wagner. This is how Facebook collects data on you even if you don’t have an account. Vox, April 2018. URL: https://www.vox.com/2018/4/20/17254312/facebook-shadow-profiles-data-collection-non-users-mark-zuckerberg (visited on 2023-12-05).

      This URL is about Facebook collecting data on people who do not sign up for Facebook. It uses “shadow profile” to achieve that. Shadow profile is when Facebook already has enough data to create a profile even though people don’t use it anymore. It also talked about how Facebook use browsing history and information from users’ friends to collect data from non-users. Facebook uses those datasets for analytics. It is very interesting that there is actually no way to stop Facebook from collecting non-users’ data.

    1. What do you think is the best way to deal with trolling?

      I think the best way to deal with trolling is what is mentioned in 7.4, just ignore the trolling. Those people who is trolling other people online probably doesn't have anything to do in their own life or they are not happy with their life, so they go online and trying to ruin other people's life too. Trollers get more excited to see reaction from people who is being trolled, but if troller doesn't get any respond, they will find it boring and leave themselves.

  15. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Trolling / Troll. April 2009. URL: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trolling-troll (visited on 2023-12-05).

      Trolling is a slang to describe when internet users are intentionally posting things online to make other people upset. It can also be called pranking, making fun of other people to entertain themselves. The term troll was first used in 1992. There are many different types of trolling; Griefing, flaming, raiding, shock trolling, baiting and switching, advice trolling, newbie trolling, snipe hunting, and concern trolling. Trolling can be considered a type of cyberbullying.

    1. Where do you see parasocial relationships on social media?

      I see parasocial relationship on the internet all the time. Any tiny connection or feelings can create a parasocial relationship. Influencers and their fans or even just followers. Creating a parasocial relationship with viewers online can bring large profit to the influencers. Viewers are promoting influencers and celebrities based on the parasocial relationship that they have which make them feel connected.

  16. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Sara Baker. Why Online Anonymity is Critical for Women. Women's Media Center, March 2016. URL: https://womensmediacenter.com/speech-project/why-online-anonymity-is-critical-for-women (visited on 2023-11-24).

      This link talks about how anonymity online could be both harmful and beneficial for people. While it is hiding people from disrespecting or abusing others, it is protecting minorities from violence. For instance, women and LGBTQ individuals. Survivors of domestic violence rely on anonymity online to hide and heal from abusers. In the passage, it mentions that trans and queer women face threats online and offline, so anonymity protects their privacy from being invaded and attacked by others.  Survivors should also not be asked to leave the internet because it is not fair for them to get punished for someone else’s mistake. So if it is needed, use a fake name for your social media account to protect your privacy. 

    1. 4Chan has various image-sharing bulletin boards, where users post anonymously. Perhaps the most infamous board is the “/b/” board for “random” topics. This board emphasizes “free speech” and “no rules” (with exceptions for child sexual abuse material [CSAM] and some other illegal content). In these message boards, users attempt to troll each other and post the most shocking content they can come up with. They also have a history of collectively choosing a target website or community and doing a “raid” where they all try to join and troll and offend the people in that community.

      Although it is important that people have free speech to express themselves on the internet. It is also very important to make the community inclusive and comfortable for all the users. In most of social medias nowadays; there's people who's working for the company to filter what content is okay to be spread on the internet. Internet should not be a place where people go crazy and doesn't care about what they say just become it is anonymous and other people don't know who they are.

  17. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. What is user friction? Why you're losing users and how to stop

      User friction keeps users from achieving goals that they desire to do online. There are three types of user friction, emotional friction, interaction friction, and cognitive friction. Emotional friction is when something online is hard to use which create negative feeling for users and prevent users from doing what they willing to do. Interaction friction is when aa website is too confusing and hard to navigate. The website is complicated to use which may cause user giving up on using the website. Lastly, cognitive friction occurs when a website doesn't achieve users expectation. This article also talks about three types of clicking which often occurs when users loose patience on doing something and start clicking whatever they see one the website.

    1. How many people live in this house? Does a college student returning home for the summer count as living in that house?

      While I think simplification in some case is not benefiting some individuals, however I do think for the most of time it is benefiting the majority. Simplification benefits efficiency, and most of the time, the answer to the question is very subjective. In the example that's giving here, some people will think that they are count as living in the house and some does not. Unless it is a government website which the truth matter, simplification does increase the efficiency.

  18. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. My last name is to long, what do I do?

      In this post, the person is asking what should they do if there last name is too long, and in the comment section, people are either helping or sharing same experience. I found this interesting because as a person with a short last name, I never thought it would be a problem for people. And why would the website designer put a limit on how long your last name should be; I don't quite understand the purpose of this limit and honestly I'm curious about why.

  19. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. TweetDelete - Easily delete your old tweets. URL: https://tweetdelete.net/ (visited on 2023-12-02).

      This source is very helpful for people who want to use the same account but have grown more mature over time and have different views of things. It is also a tutorial to help people to hide what they don't want people they know now to see from their past. It is benefitting everyone, including the people who shared controversial opinions or people who insulted others on the internet.

    1. For example, TikTok user Curt Skelton posted a video claiming that he was actually an AI-generated / deepfake character:

      People trying to be bots and bots trying to be more human-like make social media more confusing. Because of AI technology, it is getting harder and harder to distinguish whether something is true or not. Although the easy access of AI brings a lot of convenience for people, the easy access also benefits people who have bad intentions. Those people can use AI to cause a bad scene and users can't distinguish if it's true or not, causing people to believe those unreal things and use them against each other.

  20. Sep 2025
    1. What about the idea that there is no absolute truth, that a moral claim is only true for me or you, or for my culture or your culture?

      There is no absolute truth to wether something is right or wrong. Ethics is based on what most people agreed on. In this society, sometimes people ignore their own feelings and just agreed on something because majority thinks that way. In some cases, people could be "unethical" just because they have a unpopular opinion or look at a stuff another way. One behavior could be ethical in one culture and unethical in another which shows how moral standards are very subjective.

    1. Divine Command Theory

      I totally disagree with the divine command theory. If people are being stop to do certain things just because God said it is right or wrong, then religion is losing its purpose. God should be a figure that creates hope and faith for people, not limiting people based on what God says. To me Divine Command Theory sounds like using God as a weapon to force people to behave a certain way. Not everything should be related to religion and not everyone has the same believe. Therefore, it is important to listen to your thoughts and using reasoning to decide your opinion on something. Human are unique because everyone is different and has their own opinions.