How should management scholars understand the relationship between social media platforms and democratic society?
This Journal of Management Studies Point-Counterpoint brings together contrasting perspectives on one of the most pressing challenges of the digital age. The debate explores whether social media platforms fundamentally threaten democratic processes through misinformation, polarization, and attention-driven business models, or whether alternative governance approaches and platform designs can help address these concerns.
The collection includes a Point article advocating a political perspective on social media platforms and two Counterpoints offering ecosystem governance and platform interoperability perspectives. An introductory article synthesizes the debate, highlighting attention governance as a central lens for understanding how platform architectures shape information flows, public discourse, and societal outcomes.
Together, these contributions provide a timely examination of the governance, responsibilities, and future of social media platforms in democratic societies:
From Platform Design to Attention Governance: Rethinking Social Media Externalities Introduction by Mirko Benischke and Corinne Post
Social Media Is a Threat for Democracy! A Political Perspective for Analysing and Diminishing Harm Point by Itziar Castelló, Elanor Colleoni, Andreas Georg Scherer, and Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich
Are Social Media Platforms a Threat to Democracy? An Ecosystem Governance Perspective First Counterpoint by Carmelo Cennamo and Jovana Karanovic
Make Social Media Social Again: How Platform Interoperability Can Fix Social Media and Future-Proof Democracy Second Counterpoint by J.P. Vergne
