Social Media and Ethical concerns: ENG 151

 10 points.  Choose 2 user profiles and answer the questions below. 

✅ 1. Middle‑Aged Working Parent, Franklin

Key User Information:
A 45‑year‑old father of two who posts mainly about juggling remote work, parenting, and home‑organization hacks. Follows family bloggers, productivity apps, and meal‑kit services.

Monetization Opportunities (to critically evaluate, not endorse):

• Ads for family meal kits, parenting tools, and home‑office equipment.
  
• Sponsored posts from productivity‑app brands.
  
• Insights for companies researching “sandwich generation” consumer habits.
  

Ethical Concerns:

• Risk of exploiting parental stress or guilt with products claiming to “optimize” family life.
  
• Targeting could reveal sensitive household data if misused.
  

Summary:
Parenting‑and‑productivity content draws strong engagement but must be handled with high privacy sensitivity and care toward emotional well‑being.

 

✅ 2. Retired Hobby Gardener, Marie

Key User Information:
A 67‑year‑old retired woman who shares daily garden photos, birdwatching notes, and DIY composting videos. Follows seed suppliers, botanical gardens, and local community groups.

Monetization Opportunities (analyzed ethically):

• Ads for gardening tools, outdoor equipment, and horticulture classes.
  
• Partnerships with local nurseries or community gardens.
  
• Aggregate trend insights for brands serving older adults’ hobbies.
  

Ethical Concerns:

• Avoid preying on fixed‑income individuals with high‑cost “premium” hobby gear.
  
• Prevent any targeting that could exploit age‑related vulnerabilities.
  

Summary:
Her hobby‑focused presence makes for low‑risk, community‑oriented engagement, provided financial sensitivity is respected.

 

✅ 3. Teen High‑School Music Enthusiast, Lowell

Key User Information:
A 16‑year‑old (content viewed with parental controls) who posts clips of guitar practice, concert fandom memes, and indie‑band recommendations. Follows music‑gear accounts and streaming‑service pages.

Monetization Opportunities (safely examined):

• Ads for low‑cost beginner instruments and music‑learning platforms.
  
• Event promotions for youth‑friendly concerts.
  
• Non‑sensitive interest‑level insights for entertainment brands.
  

Ethical Concerns:

• As a minor, heightened privacy and protections apply; data collection must be minimal and transparent.
  
• Avoid manipulative upselling or any adult‑oriented content.
  

Summary:
Engagement should remain strictly age‑appropriate, with strong guardrails around privacy and commercial targeting.

 

✅ 4. Young Professional in Urban Tech Job, Pat

Key User Information:
A 28‑year‑old software engineer in a city posting about smart‑home setups, coffee gear, cycling commutes, and code‑tutorial clips. Follows tech influencers and gadget‑review channels.

Monetization Opportunities (reviewed responsibly):

• Ads for smart‑home devices, mechanical keyboards, and cycling accessories.
  
• Partnerships with coding‑education platforms.
  
• Broad, non‑identifying trend data for tech‑consumer studies.
  

Ethical Concerns:

• Avoid intrusive micro‑targeting based on home‑tech usage or geolocation.
  
• Prevent pressure toward expensive “must‑have” gear.
  

Summary:
High interest in tech offers monetization potential, but privacy around home devices and location is paramount.

 

✅ 5. Wellness‑Focused Artist in Their 30s, Van 

Key User Information:
A 33‑year‑old nonbinary artist sharing watercolor timelapses, yoga routines, and posts about sustainable living. Follows eco‑shops, art‑supply brands, and mindfulness creators.

Monetization Opportunities (ethically contextualized):

• Ads for eco‑friendly art supplies, meditation apps, and sustainable household goods.
  
• Brand partnerships with small ethical‑fashion or green‑living companies.
  
• High‑level demographic trend insights for sustainability markets.
  

Ethical Concerns:

• Must avoid exploiting wellness‑related insecurities or pushing expensive “greenwashed” products.
  
• Respect identity without enabling targeted profiling based on gender expression.
  

Summary:
An audience interested in creativity and sustainability offers gentle, values‑aligned opportunities—requiring authenticity and respect for identity.

 

#6: former high school athlete, Doug

User is a 22‑year‑old college student who posts frequently about fitness, meal prepping, and budget travel. Follows several athletic apparel brands and student discount pages.

Monetization Opportunities:

• Targeted ads for protein supplements, athletic wear, and low‑cost travel deals.
• Sponsored posts from fitness influencers.
• Selling aggregated data to companies researching Gen Z spending habits.

Ethical Concerns:
Potential over‑targeting of body‑image‑related content; risk of manipulating financial stress by pushing “buy now, pay later” travel deals.

Summary:
The user’s fitness and travel interests are highly monetizable. The most profitable strategy is targeted advertising from lifestyle brands. Ethical concerns center on mental health and financial vulnerability.

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✅ Discussion Questions: answer for the 2 profiles you chose. 

1. Privacy & Data Collection

1. Which types of data from these fictional profiles would you consider “sensitive,” and why?
   (Think: age, hobbies, health, stress level, location, family status.)
   
2. What kinds of personal information are these platforms likely collecting without the user explicitly realizing it?
   (Engagement patterns? Scroll behavior? Purchase history?)
   
3. Should companies be allowed to infer intimate details—like mental health or financial stress—from posts and follows?
   Where is the ethical boundary?
   

 

2. Monetization & Targeted Advertising

1. Which of the fictional users is at the highest risk of being pressured into buying things they don’t need?
   What design choices make someone vulnerable?
   
2. When does targeted advertising become manipulative instead of helpful?
   Use examples from the profiles (e.g., fitness content, parenting content, “buy now, pay later” deals).
   
3. Which monetization strategy poses the greatest ethical risk?
   —Targeted ads 
   —Sponsored content 
   —Selling user data 
   —Influencer partnerships 
   Why?
   

 

3. Power Imbalances

1. Which fictional user has the least power to protect their privacy?
   Consider minors, older adults, those under financial stress.
   
2. Should platforms limit the types of ads they show to certain groups (like minors or people posting about stress or financial hardship)?
   Why or why not?
   

 

4. Consent & Transparency

1. What counts as meaningful consent on social platforms?
   Are real users truly aware of what they’re agreeing to?
   
2. If you were any of these fictional users, what types of data‑sharing would you want to opt out of?
   Be specific.
   

 

5. Real‑World Application

1. Which of these profiles most resembles people you know?
   Do you think that person’s data could be used in ways they don’t expect?
   
2. What responsibilities should tech companies have when designing systems that can influence behavior (fitness, spending, self‑image)?
   
3. How should platforms balance their need to make money with users’ right to privacy and well‑being?
   

 

later, for group discussion: 

✅ Optional: Small‑Group Activity Prompt

Ask each group to pick one of the five fictional users and answer:

• What is one high‑benefit monetization strategy that helps the user?
  
• What is one harmful strategy that could exploit the user?
  
• How should a platform redesign its system to protect that user?
  

This turns the profiles into case studies and works well for student‑led presentations.