Topic 4 – A Reflection

This week we were tasked with discussing an ethical issue faced by businesses or educational institutes in their social media use. I felt that this was probably my favourite topic both to write and read due to the flexibility of the topic and the different but interesting avenues that different people took.

Personally, I discussed the ethical issues involved when businesses exploit tragic events in an attempt to expand their customer base or advertise their brand or product, the main motivation behind this was a Buzzfeed article, a medium I had not used before, in an attempt to expand the resources I used in my blogs.  I also included a picture; insignificant I know but I’ve found it difficult switching from the formality of most university assignments to the informality of this blog post, however I think I’m finally getting it!

As well as the interesting research carried out for my own blog, I also discussed other issues with my peers. With Nabeel and Calum I spoke about offence caused by particular particular issue, in my own blog i felt with only one side, the side where people are more likely than not going to take offence. However Calum introduced me to the concept of offence being a much more grey area, explained through the case study of the Lotus F1 PR chief tweeting about the Sochi Olympics in support of LGBT, for which he was fired. I used the case study of MP Emily Thornberry. Both cases show throw complicated offence can be, so I learnt that it’s difficult to label a particular use of social media as offensive or not.

I found Nam’s blog very interesting and it was one of the few that discussed educational use of social media and the issues that arise when teachers are on social media and potentially interacting with students online as it could bring down that wall of authority. It was definitely something I could relate to as I remember it being a big thing at school when someone found a teacher on social media. However this becomes less of an issue at university as students mature.

In addition, Freya showed me how Twitter has introduced a Report button to try and deal with offensive tweets, including those written by businesses. I didn’t know about this and it was interesting to learn about it.

im looking forward to producing my final topic and then reflecting on what I’ve learnt over the module

Adam

Comments:

https://wordpress.com/read/post/id/78058515/3/

https://wordpress.com/read/post/id/76896220/61/