Should users participate in governing social media? Philosophical and technical considerations of democratic social media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v25i12.10525Keywords:
social media, democracy, Facebook, user participation, online voting, expert knowledgeAbstract
In recent years, a plethora of well-known data scandals has led to calls for alternative forms of social media governance. What challenges of institutional design would have to be met for developing meaningful democratic governance structures for a social media platform? Intertwining philosophical and technological considerations, this article explores the possibility and feasibility of democratically governed social media. We focus on the necessary technological requirements that guarantee secure voting for social media user participation. While we provide several arguments in favor of democratically governed social media from within, we argue that it should not be considered as an alternative to social media regulation from the outside.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright to their work published in First Monday. Please see the footer of each article for details.