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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Stories

Experts Explain Why 'Doin' it for the Gram' Makes Us Do Dumb Things

Irina Raicu, director of the Internet Ethics, quoted in VICE.

"In the context of #PlaneBae, I think it’s one thing to overhear a conversation. No one expects you to plug your ears. But no one expects you to start publicizing it without the people involved realizing that you’re doing it.

I wonder whether [...] there’s been a desensitization—that we are starting to see other people as content rather than individual human beings with rights and needs. As everything becomes a reality show, we forget that reality shows are actually staged, and we think that daily life is a reality show when it’s not. Most people choose not to participate in reality shows and don’t want to be forced to be the stars of one. That’s kind of how it feels in a story like this."

Irina Raicu quoted in VICE. (AP Images / Karly Domb Sadof).

Ethics
media,internet,commentary