ABSTRACT

Social media is becoming increasingly embedded in people’s daily lives. These virtual spaces are now regularly used as a tool for information dissemination. Drawing on the moral intensity literature combined with uses and gratifications theory, this research explores how using social media to consume information can affect the ethical decision-making process. This study compares the influence of two online media dissemination formats – an online news article and social media discussion thread – on individuals’ ethical perceptions and decisions. Results indicate that social media usage has an effect on perceptions of social consensus, problem recognition, and ethical sensemaking. Overall, Social media is shown to inhibit ethical decision-making when used as an information dissemination tool.

摘要

社交媒体正越来越多地融入人们的日常生活。这些虚拟空间现在经常被用作信息传播的工具。本研究利用道德强度文献结合使用和满足理论，探讨使用社交媒体消费信息如何影响道德决策过程。本研究比较了两种在线媒体传播形式——在线新闻文章和社交媒体讨论线程——对个人道德观念和决策的影响。结果表明，社交媒体的使用对社会共识、问题识别和伦理意义的感知有影响。总体而言，社交媒体在用作信息传播工具时会抑制道德决策。