COMMUNICATION IN NEW MEDIA FROM A NEUROSCIENTIFIC AND NEUROETHICAL PERSPECTIVE: EMPATHY, MANIPULATION AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES

Abstract

This study explores how empathy, emotional manipulation, and decision-making mechanisms have evolved in the new media age within a neuroscientific and neuroethical context. In other words, it examines relevant studies in the literature to understand the neuroscientific implications of social media use on empathy, manipulation, and decision-making processes. Emotional indicators such as gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice, effective in traditional face-to-face communication, have been replaced in digital environments by algorithmic manipulation and virtual interactions. This transformation weakens individuals' empathic responses and leads them to make more automatic and impulsive decisions. Social media platforms, in particular, manipulate individuals' decision-making processes with content that targets the dopamine-based reward system to attract users' attention. In this context, we examine the neural basis of digital communication forms that lead to a loss of empathy, the erosion of decision-making freedom, and the blurring of ethical boundaries. Furthermore, the power of neurotechnologies and algorithmic content to manipulate individuals' attitudes is questioned from a neuroethical perspective. In conclusion, this study was conducted by reviewing the literature and using a qualitative compilation method in order to draw attention to the importance of ethical and neuroscientific awareness in order to make empathy sustainable in digital communication, to develop awareness against manipulation, and to protect individual decision freedom.

Keywords

• Communication
• Neuroethics
• Empathy
• Decision-making
• New Media
• Manipulation

NÖROBİLİMSEL VE NÖROETİK PERSPEKTİFTEN YENİ MEDYADA İLETİŞİM: EMPATİ, MANİPÜLASYON VE KARAR VERME SÜREÇLERİ

Abstract

Bu çalışma, yeni medya çağında empati, duygusal manipülasyon ve karar verme mekanizmalarının nörobilimsel ve nöroetik bağlamda nasıl dönüştüğünü araştırmakta, bir başka deyişle sosyal medya kullanımının empati, manipülasyon ve karar verme süreçlerine yansımalarını nörobilimsel olarak anlamlandırmak üzere literatürde yer alan ilgili çalışmaları incelemektedir. Geleneksel yüz yüze iletişimde etkili olan jest, mimik ve ses tonu gibi duygusal göstergeler dijital ortamlarda yerini algoritmik düzenlemelere ve sanal etkileşimlere bırakmıştır. Bu dönüşüm, bireylerin empatik tepkilerini zayıflatmakta ve kararlarını daha otomatik, dürtüsel biçimlerde almalarına neden olmaktadır. Özellikle sosyal medya platformları, kullanıcıların dikkatini çekmek için dopamin temelli ödül sistemini hedef alan içeriklerle bireylerin karar süreçlerini manipüle etmektedir. Bu bağlamda, empati yitimine, karar verme özgürlüğünün aşınmasına ve etik sınırların belirsizleşmesine yol açan dijital iletişim biçimlerinin sinirsel temelleri incelenmiştir. Ayrıca nöro teknolojilerin ve algoritmik içeriklerin bireylerin tutumlarını yönlendirme gücü, nöroetik tartışmalar açısından sorgulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak bu çalışma, dijital iletişimde empatiyi sürdürülebilir kılmak, manipülasyona karşı bilinç geliştirmek ve bireysel karar özgürlüğünü korumak amacıyla literatürü tarayarak nitel olarak derleme yöntemiyle yapılmıştır.

Keywords

• iletişim
• Nöroetik
• Empati
• Karar verme
• Yeni Medya
• Manipülasyon

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