Chapter 3:

This chapter starts off by discussing how dating sites make money through cookies and selling its users data. I don't find an ethical dilemma with enabling cookies to track our online history to make purchasing decisions. The average user probably doesn't associate the term "cookie" with a computer but users are aware that they are being targeted via sites such as Facebook when their advertisements are specialized based on the user. For example, a fashionista like myself is bombarded with online boutiques that the computer assumes I would purchase from, which is fine, I don't have to purchase something unless I willingly do so.

Strategic communication involves its consumers skipping over commericals and taking short cuts to get their entertainment which poses a problem for advertisers who are looking to get their messages to eyeballs. Advertisers are now having to consider invading people's privacy further to get their message across.

I can see where advertisers are coming from, they are just doing their job in a world that is saturated with messages from retailers. The problem that I see isn't that it is more difficult to advertise to the public now, because we tend to tune out ads and huge billboards. It isn't making an impact any more. We are used to it, this is today and this is what should happen. Using shock value isn't always ethical but what can be learned is that we need new methods and a completely different direction in terms of advertising and sending out our message so that it is heard and thought about.

As an avid Harry Potter fan, I related the room of requirement to how we use power. Technologies ethical issues doesn't mean we get rid of technology...it has helped us immensely. The way we use technology is what grounds the ethical issues surround it. We can make our social sites private, and we can opt out and not join. How an individual chooses to participate and behave is on them.

I see people losing their own guiding inner voice and that is the issue. Technology is a tool and there will always be ethical issues with such an important tool available for every single person. We still hold responsibility for what we do and say on these platforms. If you really wanted to, technology could disappear, for you.

In the persuasion discussion I was immediately reminded of the plastic water bottle companies. They are advertising a healthy product but using plastic that harms our environments. I am drinking out of a plastic water bottle right now, but I have also watched the movie Tapped and now feel guilt drinking out of it. I am hesitant to purchase plastic water bottles, my use of it is going down. I bought a Brita water filter and reusable water bottle with a built in filter. I went out of my way after being persuaded by this movie Tapped to stop drinking plastic water bottles. The same thing goes for our consumers, if there is an ethical issue at hand, let's address it with a wide range of point of views so people aren't blindsided and can make an informed personal decision. If persuasion is being used there is always an angle from the persuader to it's "prey".

We can finalize our decisions through the TARES test of ethical persuasion. Truthfulness, Authenticity, Respect, Equity, Social aspect.

Cognitive dissonance is when a message and action give conflicting and uncomfortable signals