A Bear on a Wall: Disruptive Agents of Space- and Place-Based Ethical Boundaries

Abstract

Viral videos of human-animal interactions are prevalent among social-media sites. The comments sections of these videos are sites of debate over the ethics of place. In this study, we analyze comments on three viral videos to investigate three questions: Who has, or who creates, authority in construction of a space- or place-based ethic? In what ways are arguments about environmental ethics regarding space and place formed, and how do they emerge in social media spaces? What can we learn from an investigation of specific viral videos, including their associated comments, as they relate to place and space-based ethics? This study suggests interesting possibilities for the way ethics-related information moves, and for the ways we consider place and space in relation to ourselves and our world.