Analysis Of Flourishing On Facebook: Virtue Friendship And New Social Media

In 2012, Shannon Vallor writes in the Ethics and Information Technology peer-reviewed journal an article titled “Flourishing on Facebook: Virtue Friendship & New Social Media”. This article recognizes social media trends, and in particular it looks at the ethical forms behind friendships. The abstract specifies how “this paper investigates the ethical significance of online friendship by means of an Aristotelian theory of the good life” (Vallor, 2012, p. 185). Even more thorough, four key dimensions of social media are examined including reciprocity, empathy, self-knowledge, and shared life. Even though there are claims that these measurements supplement instead of substitute face-to-face interactions, it is recognized that even the dimension

185). Even though it is helping such populations to keep in touch with their families, scholars look at emerging patterns in social media use but it does raise a big question: “what do these trends mean for the long-term health, happiness, and general well-being of individuals and communities?” (Vallor, 2012, p. 185). Even when the question is raised as to why philosophers should be concerned with social media technologies, Vallor answers with the following: “pervasive technologies that modify our most basic modes of social interaction and bonding have the potential to influence our moral lives and character more deeply than many of the ethical dilemmas that currently preoccupy us [i.e., abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and genetic engineering] ” (2012, p. 186). Social media use is a growing impact in moral lives

The shared life is defined as “a social achievement that embodies the highest forms of friendship and community, and which grounds the concept of Eudaimonia or ‘human flourishing’ ” (Vallor, 2012, p. 196). Aristotle is supposed to believe that friends should be living together, a perspective originating from Eudaimonia or “living well as a lifetime of excellent activity” (Vallor, 2012, p. 196). A good life is supposed to require friends to dwell in continual actions, actions that have as an end improved activity that develop one’s distinct human element. Then, one’s well-being goes hand in hand with the shared life (suzên), which in turn leads to Eudaimonia. Nevertheless, Vallor poses the question: “what will the rise of new social media mean for the shared life of excellence?” (2012, p. 196). In the use of social media, Vallor first makes a distinction between sharing life (i.e., performing activities together) and sharing about life (i.e., status updates, sharing photographs, sharing videos, sharing satire, etc.). Social media outlets like Facebook make sharing life a bit more difficult despite that it is a great outlet for friendships to maintain or keep in touch. Usually that is because people use something like Facebook to reconnect with those from the past or present. Even though one may connect with new people, acting on the aspect of sharing life is more challenging when two people are complete strangers. This