Social media: the corporate psychopaths’ megaphone

Social media platforms are central to many things we do, from how we communicate and form opinions to how businesses operate and political campaigns are run (Abid et al., 2023). While these platforms offer unparalleled opportunities for communication, they also harbor a darker reality—the exploitation of people through manipulation, misinformation, the creation of self-reinforcing echo chambers, and the manipulation of social media technologies by the masters of manipulation, those people manifesting corporate psychopathic traits. These individuals, often in positions of power, use psychopathic traits such as charm, manipulation, and deceit for personal gain, undermining institutions of trust, organization, and governance,
normalizing unethical and immoral standards in the process (Boddy, 2011). Their ability to
manipulate public perception allows them to create the cohort of enablers they need to achieve their goals—the cohort made up of the deceived, the coerced, and the self-interested collaborators. Using social media stories and their enablers, corporate psychopaths ascend to leadership positions, often without the necessary qualifications or ethical foundations, creating an
illusion of competence and integrity while hiding their true motives (Boddy, 2015)—a corrupt process made easier and amplified by social media.
This chapter explores the intersection of corporate psychopathy and social media, analyzing how corporate psychopaths exploit these platforms to spread misinformation, distort public perception—building their enabling networks—and further their self-serving agendas. After a brief review of corporate psychopathic traits such as charm, manipulativeness, transactional approach to relationships and lack of empathy (Boddy et al., 2010), the chapter then describes how these actors project their agendas via social media platforms. The discussion addresses technological features of social media, including the algorithms focused on emotion and attention, popularity bias, virality and absence of scrutiny, inauthentic content creation, echo chambers, and influencer culture. It includes a review of strategic business tactics like greenwashing, market manipulation, and disinformation campaigns. Finally, the chapter calls for future research to develop more effective strategies to identify, manage, and mitigate the influence of corporate psychopaths on social media platforms, highlighting the need for regulatory frameworks and algorithmic accountability to mitigate the destructive impact of these actors.