Unethical Business?

Designing your own website has been one of the best exercises of my "academic" or "learning" career. For the first time, I am not being forced by someone to use my brain and I get to make what I am envisioning. If only all my school projects were like this...

Each part matters. Color, texture, shape, placement; there is not one part that can be thrown aside "just because." You can see the product come to life while also balancing the functionality of what you want users to do. This balance of these two factors are what is constantly pulling at me during the design process. 

Is it unethical to place buttons in certain spots with certain colors knowing it will exploit the user's actions? Or how about using certain naming phrases and wording to attract different responses? At what point does the user become "exploited?" After all, no one makes you click buttons or user the website. It is your money so thus your choice to use it as you wish.  

Facebook has been under fire due to their own research showing the harmful effects of social media on young girls and mental health (link below)¹. The study alleges shows that Instagram has created unrealistic standards for women and young girls, thus causing an increase in mental health issues for users. This directly ties back to my website and my thoughts. At what point is the company responsible for the user's actions, if ever? Once again, no one makes a young girl get a smartphone, download the app, sign up (underage probably), and look up other girls to compare themselves to. But is that really a viable answer, does Facebook share any blame for the misinformation or effects of its products? Do websites and video games contribute to spending addictions (think Fortnite and little kids..)? If so, how much blame can be placed? At what point is it on the user vs the company? And does this make you a bad person for creating a product people want, even if the effects can be permanent and deadly?

Let me be clear, I am continuing to develop my website and hope it turns out successful. I believe I am truly doing something to benefit society and bring wealth to those who are usually forgotten about. But that grey area will always exist, and I will continue to question what role I play in the game called "business."


Link:

1. Facebook Report from WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739

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