Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2022

Ethical Dimensions of App Designs: A Case Study of Photo- and Video-Editing Apps

Xiaobo Wang Sam Houston State University ; Baotong Gu Georgia State University

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic study on the user experience (UX) design of the photo- and video-editing apps of millennial and Generation Z participants from different cultural groups. The case study calls attention to the implications of rhetorical misrepresentations of reality that photo- and video-editing apps afford and encourages future large-scale studies on the negative psychological and behavioral impacts such apps can have on users’ psychology, behaviors, and well-being. The authors use frameworks in virtue ethics to argue that despite slight variations, photo and video app UX has ethical implications that can negatively impact young adult users. For example, the study suggests that the photo and video app features tend to subvert the traditional Chinese virtues of modesty, honesty, and the middle way and that hyperbolic and playful designs can cause addictive behaviors.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2022-07-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519221087973
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research multimodality technical communication multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Gray (2026)
    The Utility of Inclusivity: How Emoji Proposal Writers Navigate Oppositional In…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (3)

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    The Rhetoric of Technology as a Rhetorical Technology
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  2. Ding (2007)
    Confucius's Virtue-Centered Rhetoric: A Case Study of Mixed Research Methods in…
    Rhetoric Review
  3. Dragga (1999)
    Ethical intercultural technical communication: Looking through the lens of Conf…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
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CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network →

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