Abstract

This essay is part of a collection of essays reflecting critically and sympathetically on the legacy of philosopher of science and technology Joseph C. Pitt. It examines some effects social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, are having on people's capacity to engage in critical self-reflection, and draws lessons bearing on the classical issue of whether technologies can be considered neutral or embody non-cognitive values that they themselves reproduce by disciplining designers and users in particular ways. I argue that social networking sites reproduce an ethic of personalization that privileges whatever theirs algorithms think are a user's personal interests at the expense of public interests, and that this in turn compromises their capacity to engage in critical self-reflection vis-a-vis issues facing society and the world.