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“Conversation of Mankind” or “idle talk”?: a pragmatist approach to Social Networking Sites

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Abstract

What do Social Networking Sites (SNS) ‘do to us’: are they a damning threat or an emancipating force? Recent publications on the impact of “Web 2.0” proclaim very opposite evaluative positions. With the aim of finding a middle ground, this paper develops a pragmatist approach to SNS based on the work of Richard Rorty. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, we analyze SNS as conversational practices. Second, we outline, in the form of an imaginary conversation between Rorty and Heidegger, a positive and negative ‘conversational’ view on SNS. Third, we deploy a reflection, again using Rortian notions, on that evaluation, starting from the concept of ‘self-reflectivity.’ Finally, the relations between these three steps are more detailedly investigated. By way of the sketched technique, we can interrelate the two opposing sides of the recent debates—hope and threat—and judge SNS in all their ambiguity.

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Notes

  1. Benedetti and DeHart (1997, p. 167).

  2. Jackson (2008).

  3. Bauerlein (2008).

  4. Siegel (2008).

  5. Tapscott (2009).

  6. Shirky (2008).

  7. Several authors have worked out ways to evade “binary thinking.” Slavoj Žižek, for one, proposes a “parallax view,” i.e., “[…] constantly shifting perspective between two points between which no synthesis or mediation is possible.” Cf. Žižek (2006, p. 4). Peter Elbow defends dichotomous thinking, but attempts to frame a more adequate way of handling it. Cf. Elbow (1993). David J. Gunkel, then, in Thinking Otherwise, examines ethical considerations of ICT, and challenges the binary thinking often deployed there, by first and foremost changing the terms and conditions of the discourse. Cf. Gunkel (2007). (I thank reviewer #2 for pointing out these helpful references.) Of all these three, my approach is closest to Gunkel's, though there are some crucial differences: as I will show, I attempt to first keep the judgemental dichotomies intact (assuming that judging between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is a necessary step in the process of assessing the effects of ICT), but then superpose a 'meta-judgement' on them in order to mitigate their monolithic force.

  8. McLuhan (1966, p. 68).

  9. Cf. Keulartz et al. (2002) and Radder (2004). Less specifically focused on ethics, but nonetheless of great value, is the work of philosopher of technology Larry Hickman, who develops a general, pragmatist account of technology mainly based on the works of John Dewey. Cf. Hickman (1990, 2001).

  10. Anon (2009a).

  11. Boyd and Ellison (2007). The authors explicitly use the term “social network site” and not “social networking site,” because according to them ‘networking’ suggests network initiation, whereas SNS do not primarily serve the goal of meeting strangers. Cf. ibid., p. 211. For reasons of clarity and, as we will see, philosophical relevance, I will disregard this nuance here, and employ the word ‘networking’ unburdenedly.

  12. Ibid., p. 211.

  13. Anon (2009b).

  14. Lenhart (2006).

  15. Keulartz et al. (2002), pp. 14–15, 250–251), cited in Radder (2004, p. 10).

  16. Hartshorne et al. (1931–1958, 4.6).

  17. Mead (1934, p. 50).

  18. Ibid., p. 15.

  19. Dewey (1958, p. 186).

  20. Ibid., p. 202.

  21. Goodman (1995, p. 4).

  22. Cf. Rorty (1992, p. 136) and Rorty (1999, p. 191).

  23. Richard Rorty, among others, makes several attempts to reconcile Heidegger's thoughts with pragmatism. Cf. Rorty (1991b), Okrent (1988), Gethmann-Siefert and Pöggeler (1988), Caputo (1983), and Van den Bossche (2005). Here, however, I 'use' Heideggerian insights merely to, as Rorty would put it, “keep the conversation going” than as full-force parts of my main argument, notwithstanding the interesting connections that could be made between Heideggerian and Rortian 'pragmatism' from a 'conversational' viewpoint, but that fall beyond the scope of this paper.

  24. Rorty (1980, pp. 389–394).

  25. Ibid., p. 360.

  26. Idem.

  27. Ibid., pp. 358–359.

  28. Cf. Wolman (2008). There have been some doubts raised on certain blogs about the authenticity of Amanda Baggs' condition and works. Nevertheless her 'case' has received serious coverage in various other media such as CNN and The New York Times.

  29. Baggs (2007).

  30. Although YouTube is not included in Wikipedia's list of Social Networking Sites, I think we should treat it as one, for it exhibits most of the characteristics listed in the aforementioned definitions of SNS: users can create public profiles, connect with 'friends' and publicly share their network connections, and these profiles constitute an online community that provides various ways of social and self-expressive interacting. And, not unimportantly, YouTube certainly fits in with the conversational paradigm, as the example at hand will demonstrate.

  31. Gadamer (1989).

  32. Heidegger (1962, pp. 211–219).

  33. Ibid., p. 211.

  34. Ibid., p. 212.

  35. Idem.

  36. Idem.

  37. Cf., for one, Keen (2007).

  38. Heidegger (1962, p. 212).

  39. And these 'counting networks' raise questions like: how much friends must one have on a Social Networking Site? Not too few, not too many, so it appears. Cf. Tong et al. (2008).

  40. Heidegger (1962, p. 212).

  41. Idem.

  42. Ibid., p. 213.

  43. To guard objectivity and neutrality, the founders of Wikipedia have developed a set of rules, but these rules are themselves, according to some, questionable. Cf. Garfinkel (2008).

  44. Heidegger (1962, p. 216).

  45. Idem.

  46. Ibid., p. 217.

  47. Sometimes even literally, as there have been observed cases of “Internet addiction.” Cf. Block (2008).

  48. Heidegger (1962, p. 218).

  49. Rorty (1980, p. 163, 170).

  50. Ibid., p. 372.

  51. Rorty (1982, p. xlvii).

  52. Ibid., pp. 173–174.

  53. Ibid., p. 174.

  54. Rorty (1980, p. 378).

  55. Ibid., 318.

  56. Rorty (1991a, p. 211).

  57. Rorty (1999, p. 168ff).

  58. Ibid., p. 171.

  59. Rorty (1989, p. 73).

  60. Ibid., p. 186.

  61. Margolis (2002, p. 32). Cf. also Goodman (1995, p. 7.

  62. Rorty (1991a, p. 202).

  63. Ibid., p. 27, 32.

  64. Poulsen (2008).

  65. Heidegger (1962, p. 213). Moreover, before kicking off his analysis of “idle talk,” he mentions that his interpretation is “[…] is far removed from any moralizing critique of everyday Dasein, and from the aspirations of a 'philosophy of culture.'” (ibid., p. 211) We seem to have consciously employed Heidegger's ideas in a setting of which he himself was very wary.

  66. Ibid., p. 214.

  67. Heidegger (1977).

  68. Ibid., p. 28 and p. 34.

  69. Rorty (1998, p. 254).

  70. Alstyne and Brynjolfsson (2005). Cf. also Carr (2008, pp. 162–163).

  71. Rorty (1998, p. 251).

  72. Idem.

  73. ‘Everyone’ must be interpreted relatively here. Most SNS keep restrictions on who can view, add, and change which information (and righteously so). But within each user's own network, there should be as much freedom as possible for everyone to engage in the stream of information.

  74. Ibid., p. 273.

  75. Verbeek (2006).

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Acknowledgements

My research is supported by a Ph.D. fellowship of the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO).

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  1. Department of Philosophy, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Elsene, Brussels, Belgium

    Yoni Van Den Eede

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Van Den Eede, Y. “Conversation of Mankind” or “idle talk”?: a pragmatist approach to Social Networking Sites. Ethics Inf Technol 12, 195–206 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-010-9223-9

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