Date of Award
Spring 1-1-2012
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
First Advisor
Paul S. Voakes
Second Advisor
Elizabeth A. Skewes
Third Advisor
Mike McDevitt
Abstract
This study investigates the role that communitarian and care ethics play in online user-generated content. As humans move through an ever growing "information age," people’s ethical awareness and understanding of new media has come into question. New media includes on-demand audio and video, social networking sites, and mobile device technologies. The rate at which new media is being developed and the accelerating pace at which people implement it have left many ethical considerations unanswered.
The community-based website EdHat Santa Barbara was as the data source for this study. Messages were analyzed using communitarian and care ethics criteria because of their focus on human relationships and social connections. While the return to a sense of community is hoped for in the wake of generations that drew on a desire for individualism and the "autonomous self," understanding the role that communitarian and care ethics has in contributing to community becomes increasingly important.
Through a content analysis of members’ posts and comments on the website EdHat, this study investigates the strengths and weaknesses an online community exhibits in creating the types of bonds needed for community building.
Recommended Citation
Donovan, Robin Kathleen, "Communitarian and Care Ethics: A Return to Community in the Digital Age" (2012). Journalism & Mass Communication Graduate Theses & Dissertations. 8.
https://scholar.colorado.edu/jour_gradetds/8
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons