Despite midterms historically having mediocre turnouts, the number of votes cast by young voters in the 2022 midterm elections was the second highest in 30 years. As technology becomes more deeply woven throughout our culture, politicians are discovering that social media provides a genuine way to connect with new voters.
View More The Political Power of Gen-Z and Social Media
Photo-editing software has advanced dramatically in recent years, allowing people to share images of themselves that do not reflect how they truly look. As a result, rates of body dysmorphia and eating disorders, especially amongst the younger generation, have risen, leading engineers to analyze the ethicality of photo-editing software, as well as the social media platforms that host these heavily edited images.
View More Social Media Dysmorphia and the Dangers of Hyper-Realistic Photo Retouching Software
In today’s digital age, social media plays a major role in the development of adolescent minds. Young people begin posting content in their early years and are exposed to a feed of others’ pictures and videos. However, while this system may ostensibly help people stay in contact with those they do not see in person, it also creates an environment of comparison that can lead to self-esteem and body image issues. Beautification technology like augmented reality filters and photoshop have only exacerbated the issue, making it so that young people are not only comparing themselves to a curated version of others, but an entirely manufactured one. Engineers have a responsibility to examine the possible negative effects of the products they create, and beautification technology leads to far more harm than good.
View More Artificial and Unreal: The Ethics of Beautification Technology for Images and Social Media
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the richest man in the world, recently purchased enough shares of Twitter to have a 9.2 percent stake, making him the largest shareholder of the social media company. Musk’s appointment to the board of Twitter has brought about questions of free speech, social media deregulation, and the ability of the extremely wealthy to influence the way that our world communicates.
View More Elon Musk’s New Stake in Twitter and the Unchecked Power of Tech Giants
Facebook’s rebrand as Meta signals the beginning of a new era for the tech giant, but is it all just a distraction from the company’s recent negative press?
View More Into the Metaverse: Facebook’s Big Rebrand
A Facebook whistleblower has come forward alleging that the parent company of Instagram knew that the social media app causes major harm to the mental health of its users but has refused to act on this research and instead continues to insist that these effects are minimal or non-existent.
View More Protecting the Mental Health of Instagram Users
Facebook is cracking down on the spread of misinformation about vaccines – is this a violation of free speech or a valid effort to protect the public?
View More Facebook’s Role in Mitigating Vaccine Misinformation
8/3/2020 In VCE’s weekly news profile from February 10, 2020, one of my fellow editors explored the world of misinformation in the health industry – an…
View More The Time and Place for Conspiracy
6/8/2020 An article published in The Guardian in 2016 explored how tech companies (particularly but not exclusively social media companies) were exploiting the Black Lives…
View More Do Black Lives Really Matter To Tech Companies?
User engagement levels of social media platforms have seen a steady increase over the past decade. Software engineering practices are responsible for drawing users in and retaining their attention for extended periods of time through the use of extensive user profiling algorithms. These practices have created detrimental consequences for consumers. This article explores the ethicality behind such practices by analyzing software engineering applications.
View More Limits to Social Media Engagement: An Ethical Approach