Readers respond to an article by Frances Ryan on whether it is ethical to use social media apps, given they can be rife with toxic rhetoric
Frances Ryan is right to point out the dangers of social media apps (Given the toxicity of social media, a moral question now faces all of us: is it still ethical to use it?, 14 February), but she also acknowledges how beneficial they can be. In my early days on Bluesky, I began questioning why I was spending time building a following. I wanted to promote my books because I believed that they had the potential to help many people, but book sales didn’t actually increase.
Still, I continued. I posted Arwa Mahdawi’s powerful column about the Save Act. I was able to let countless people know for the first time how dangerous this law would be. Then a researcher friend told me that he was having trouble getting people to complete a survey on gender-affirming care. With the help of others on the platform, we were able to get many participants for him.