Reflections: Documentaries and Technomoral Change

In the last tutorial session for the “Transformations in Digital Cultures” course, we discussed the concept of “technomoral change”, which Tsjalling Swierstra described as “The phenomenon that technology and morality mutually shape each other.” (2015, p. 11) It specifically raises concerns about the less tangible kinds of impacts, which he calls “soft impacts”, as opposed to the other “hard impacts”. 

Swierstra defines Hard impacts as adhering to three requirements: They are 1) non-controversial (i.e. whether the impact is bad is not up for debate) 2) quantifiable and 3) there is direct causation. On the other hand, soft impacts “are not events that can be calculated for plausibility, but they involve changes in the manifold ways we relate to the world, to our fellow beings, and to ourselves.” (p. 13)

Great examples of hard impacts were showcased in “Death by Design” a documentary we watched in preparation for the class.

“Death by Design” Trailer

The documentary deals with the impacts that producing many technologies–like smartphones from companies such as Apple–have on the environment as well as the health of both workers in the factory, as well as those living in contaminated environments. Though there wasn’t anything completely new to me in the documentary, it was still confronting to get such explicit examples, as well as seeing the extent of the impact. As with many of today’s issues, money seemed to be the driving force behind a lot of these harmful decisions. Unfortunately, neither the documentary nor the class discussion brought up concrete ways to resolve these things. But that would obviously have been too easy of an answer. On the other side of the picture, though not a required viewing, the new Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma” provided a nice picture of some soft impacts.

“The Social Dilemma” Trailer

Just to reiterate, soft impacts tend to be changes in practices, that cause gradual shifts in our norms and values. “The Social Dilemma” points out some of these behaviors and the (both conscious and unconscious) design decisions that led to them. What was interesting to me was how the documentary also indirectly showcased a lot of the concepts discussed in the other course I took this semester, Real Virtualities. As our social media becomes more ingrained and intertwined with our daily lives, they create a “hyperreality”: an environment where we are not able to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality. As many aspects of our life–down to our emotions–are mediated through modern technologies. This also makes it harder to determine what the facts are, as social media curates a feed for every individual.

I watched the documentary with my parents, and afterwards we talked for over an hour about everything from the “suggested for you” algorithm on YouTube to the BLM protests all over the world. These are issues and changes that I encounter every day, so I find it immensely intriguing to think about them further. However, just like the first documentary, “The Social Dilemma” didn’t really offer concrete resolutions. During the end credits a lot of the speakers talk about how they don’t let their kids on social media, but that’s not really a solution, is it? 

The video review below talks about this more, as well as how ironic it is that the documentary (which critiques the ‘preaching to a choir’ effect of social media feeds) is also a very one-sided perspective of the issue. Technology isn’t ONLY bad. It’s important to fully keep taking in both sides of the coin and (though it feels idealistic and somewhat naive) starting discussions around concrete changes to be made. After all, technomoral change also describes how morals can influence technology.

Review of “The Social Dilemma”
References

Swierstra, T. (2015). Identifying the normative challenges posed by technology’s ‘soft’ impacts. Etikk i praksis. Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, 9(1), 5–20.

Featured Image: Netflix Poster for “The Social Dilemma”

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