Social Media + Society (Apr 2022)
The Shifting Morals of Moral Entrepreneurs
Abstract
By utilizing manipulative tactics, such as persuasion techniques and strategies through social media sites, moral entrepreneurs can maintain and/or increase their scope of influence. In this article, we propose another tactic utilized by moral entrepreneurs, a concept we refer to as shifting morals. The complexity of moral entrepreneurs’ life experiences provides them with an endless set of social and moral norms that they can use to tweak their own ideals to encompass other moral framing networks to gain more followers and thus increase their influence. We examine theoretical literature, while also providing examples that resulted from content analysis from media websites to illustrate our proposed concept of shifting morals. We conclude that the shifting morals tactic is another tool moral entrepreneurs use to increase their influence in society to enact social change.