Designing information communities: Ethical issues in the information age

Abstract

The worldwide use of computers, telecommunications, and other information technologies is giving rise to the formation of new communities called “information communities.” In the United States, for example, more people are employed as information givers, takers, or orchestrators in these communities than in any other occupation class. With so many social resources going into the conduct of these communities, it is essential that they are designed to be ethical. This requires that we identify the parties involved in each community, that we be empathetic and sympathetic to their needs and that we follow Kant's dictum by always treating them as “ends in themselves.”