When discussing ethics and social media it is good to first understand what the word ethics actually means. From the textbook, the term 'ethics' is defined as: a set of moral guidelines and principles that influence our behavior and interactions. (6) Each person has their own internal compass with a set of morals taught throughout their childhood (hopefully). As times have grown with technology, we now as citizens have to be even more aware and observant of these moral guidelines when dealing with social media. Over the years, growing concern has been displayed with how much information is actually shared or public once it is posted online, leaving lots of questions with what are the ethical policies regarding our most used sites.
When searching for social media's ethical policies, I was able to quickly locate Facebook's mission page with their attached privacy policy, as the largest concern with users in most recent years has been how private is their information that is posted online to ads and others. In their "Corporate Human Rights Policy," you will find their goal as a site is to "give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. We build social technologies to enable the best of what people can do together. Our principles are: give people a voice; serve everyone; promote economic opportunity; build connection and community; keep people safe and protect privacy." (1) So this is a very clear example of how we should expect the site to perform, so when algorithms were exposed about Facebook using search data (2), or that profiles were accessed for an entire university without consent (3), it puts lots of questions and a sense of fear into our mind when it comes to the code of ethics.
Another issue as a user on social media, there are also many ethical issues regarding TikTok and content that is posted. Tiktok alone is already dealing with Congress about whether their information is protected and private from the Chinese-owned app, but another rising concern is the content that is being shared to users regularly. One example, is the "getting arrested trend", where white males were glorifying the idea of being arrested with the popular Rihanna song "Diamonds" playing in the background (4). Especially after the very heated George Floyd case that grew tumultuously throughout the whole the country, the idea of sharing getting arrested or any police related content is morally not the best choice. Many followers were angered with the idea that this trend was rising, and had many asking the question as to how do we regulate inappropriate content without going against the First Amendment.
These type of ethical trends that we must follow with our social media sites, is just the beginning of some ethical issues that as a professional and user have noticed. When working on social media it is very important to keep a certain set of standards to follow, especially to control how you are perceived online. One of my core concepts for using social media is to: keep it appropriate. Businesses can use your social media background when interviewing and unfortunately those posts from ten years ago never really disappear from the meta. I also like to follow the rule of: not discussing work online. It is pretty common today that you will see famous socialites in trouble for things that they post on social media as it goes against strict guidelines, or includes speech that is inappropriate. Which brings me to my next core concept of: no bullying or hate speech! Memes and viral posts tend to become topics of interest and become very sharable, but unfortunately some of those posts may go against certain stereotypes and could make you look racist, sexist, or a bigot; I always try to remind myself if I saw someone else post that how would I feel, or if my boss saw that what would they say? My fourth core concept is: stay up to date on trends. I try to stay with most news forums on data that is trending regarding big issues, and trendy topics, especially when it comes to social media. I feel it is good to know how certain sites are adapting their policies, and how it could potentially affect me. Lastly, my final concept is to remember that: nothing is private. Although I have some haunting photos that I have untagged myself in, and tried to get deleted, I always remember that deep down in the data field it is circulating somewhere. That is why it is always good to monitor what is posted about you or on your page and linked to you in some way.
When it comes to brands that are handling their code of ethics in a successful way, my results led to show that the brand Adidas and Best Buy were up on the top of most lists. Adidas has an easy-to-read and very concise policy on how their employees should conduct material on social media, with examples provided. (5) Best Buy was also listed as another big company name that gives clear examples of scenarios with how employers should interact with users online or in person and how to represent themselves and the company in the best way possible. (5) When looking at strengths and weaknesses from companies with good codes of ethics, it was made clear that policies should be concise, and provide real-life scenarios of how employers should tackle their online presence daily. I personally feel companies that allow their users and employers to speak freely on the brand, while maintaining a positive atmosphere online, do better with their social media branding, as it engages more people to get involved in the conversation.
Overall, ethics is something we must face in our day to day life, but now primarily when we are behind a screen or phone. There are times that people feel the internet will protect them from consequences, but if behavior and lines are crossed on social media it could not only hurt your online reputation, but your workplace or future endeavors. The golden rule should always be applied when discussing ethics and that is how I will end with: treat others they way you would like to be treated.
(1) Facebook Meta. (n.d.). Corporate H U M a n Rig H TS policy 02 - about Facebook. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Facebooks-Corporate-Human-Rights-Policy.pdf
(2) White, C. L., & Boatwright, B. (2020, October 20). Social Media Ethics in the Data Economy: Issues of social responsibility for using facebook for public relations. Public Relations Review. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0363811120301077
(3) Zimmer, M. (2010, June 4). "but the data is already public": On the ethics of research in Facebook - Ethics and Information Technology. SpringerLink. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-010-9227-5
(4) Coburn, C., & Jelinek, J. (2022, September 19). The ethics of Tiktok Trends. Center for Media Engagement. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://mediaengagement.org/research/the-ethics-of-tiktok-trends/
(5) 21 social media policy examples to learn from. Swaybase. (2022). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.swaybase.com/social-media-policy/examples
(6) Freberg, K. J. (2022). 2: Ethical and Legal Fundamentals in Social Media. In Social Media for Strategic Communication: Creative Strategies and research-based applications. essay, SAGE Publications, Inc.
