Difference and Morality Online: Jane Addams, Democracy, and the Algorithm Academic Article uri icon

Abstract

  • This article explores Jane Addams’ Democracy and Social Ethics as it relates to communicative practices on social media. Much like John Dewey in The Public and Its Problems, Addams calls for democratic participation as a social obligation rather than a passive activity, calling for individuals to seek out and engage with others who are situated within different narrative grounds. Without this active participation, ethics and morality cannot sustain themselves in democratic society. While social media is transformative in its power to connect billions of people across the globe in ways not previously possible, the algorithms used on particular platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter push individuals towards sameness, only presenting content and perspectives from those one already identifies with. Using Addams’ pragmatic perspective on morality and democracy, this essay seeks to find connection between social media, democracy, and ethics. The first section looks to Addams’s 1902 text for main touchstones surrounding her understanding of ethics within urban industrial society through her work at the Hull House. The second section explores how social media acts like the city complete with its ethical idiosyncrasies. The final section explores implications surrounding social media communication and the lessons learned from Addams’s work.

Publication Date

  • 2023-01-01