Social Media Policy Ethics
Current State:
According to BI business review, they state there are still many ethical dilemmas with social media. They talk about Tempo Dilemmas and how they occur. “Exchanges in social media happen quickly, with an increased risk of making mistakes.” Another is Integrity Dilemmas which I think is especially important to address. They state that “Integrity Dilemmas are concerned with how easy or difficult it is to remain committed to personal values and moral standards when representing one’s organization online and being tempted or pressured to act against these.” Lastly, one I find especially important as well is Speech Dilemmas. They state that “Speech Dilemmas arise in connection with decisions about what it is acceptable to express when being active on a social media platform.” This is crucial because people sometimes think yes, they can post whatever they want, but it must be acceptable and truthful to get far.
What trends are happening in the industry?
There are a lot of trends happening in the social media industry that it truly is hard to keep up with them all. The most engaging trend on social media today is short-form videos. Short term videos are less than a minute long, capturing the attention of people across the world. According to Forbes advisor “as of April 2023, the fastest growing social media platform is BeReal.” BeReal was invented in 2020 and is a social media app that asks users to post “unfiltered” photos of themselves once a day. Insider Magazine stated that “According to trending news website social media Today, downloads of the app have risen by 315% since the beginning of the year, now ranking fourth in the list of most downloaded social media apps, behind Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. According to the app's description on Apple's App Store, BeReal encourages people to "show your friends who you really are, for once," by removing filters and opportunities to stage, over-think, or edit photos.”
What are two current cases related to social media ethics?
It states in our book Social Media for Strategic Communication written by Karen Freberg that “the film director James Gunn was removed from Guardians of the Galaxy when people saw racist comments on his Twitter account, although he was reinstated years later (Fleming, 2019). This is an example of the trend of “being canceled.” Another past case I found interesting from our book was “Kevin Hart, after it was discovered the actor tweeted inappropriate comments on Twitter regarding the LGTBQ+ community in 2011, had to step down from his hosting duties for the 2019 Oscars” (Campbell, 2020). But the most current cases I have come across are found on the internet. The first one I found was “Unequal Access To Healthcare Technology - advancements and Covid-19 have changed the way we access healthcare, extending the physical and geographic boundaries of clinical capacity. However, our disjointed, siloed healthcare infrastructure makes it difficult to connect those in crisis with appropriate care. To rectify this, we need interoperable care collaboration and analytics solutions to deliver whole-person care.” - Rob Cohen, Appriss Health – Forbes magazine. The second
What concepts do you think are necessary to adhere to for your own person conduct online?
There are many main concepts that I believe are necessary when promoting online. It is necessary to respect the privacy of others and not share personal information that you would not want out there. The other would have to always use respectful language. Lastly, you would have to be fact checking everything before sharing false information to the world.
Bullet point 5-10 core concepts that you will follow as a practicing social media professional
Research Audience
Build a presence on the right networks
I will schedule my content in advance
Audit the performance
Develop consistent brand guidelines
Always ask audience for feedback
Always respond to others whether it’s a DM or a comment.
What brands are utilizing proper social media ethical practices?
According to the “The Creative Momentum” Airbnb and Netflix are two examples of good ethical social media marketing during the recent pandemic. They make it known that Airbnb helps house COVID-19 responders and Netflix connects people with mental health experts. It is super important that these social media platforms or networks help others during tough times. Anything to do with helping your mental health is a win in my book. Everyone needs guidance in life.
Are there any you feel practice strong ethical behavior on social media?
I believe many like the ones I stated above such as Airbnb and Netflix, there are many more that are utilizing strong ethical behavior throughout their platform.
What are some takeaways you can bring forth in your own practice?
There are so many takeaways I can bring forth to my own practice when it comes to social media and networking. It is all about researching your audience and focusing on building my presence across all the different platforms through a positive manner.
References:
Panel®, Expert. “Council Post: 10 Current and Potential Ethical Crises in the Tech Industry.” Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/07/30/10-current-and-potential-ethical-crises-in-the-tech-industry/?sh=720fe6df6405. Accessed 1 June 2023.
Cheong, Charissa. “I Tried BeReal, the Buzzy Photo-Sharing App Trying to Stop People Using Filters, and after 7 Days I Was Hooked.” Insider, www.insider.com/what-is-bereal-app-how-does-it-work-2022-4#almost-out-of-nowhere-everyone-i-know-started-talking-about-bereal-1.
Kvalnes, Øyvind. “Ethical Dilemmas of Social Media – and How to Navigate Them.” BI Business Review, 29 July 2020, www.bi.edu/research/business-review/articles/2020/07/ethical-dilemmas-of-social-media--and-how-to-navigate-them/.