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Topic 4, Page 3

When sharing your social life on social media becomes your professionā€¦

Today Iā€™d like to talk about the ethics of professional use of social media, but not in a sense you might automatically assume. I will discuss people that gain income through their social media and the downfalls of doing so with regards to negative reaction from the public. Some of the most popular celebrities right now, especially amongst younger people, are known through the online social presence. Continue reading →

The Digital|Divide

As recent blogsā€™ have expressed, we are clearly living in a digital age. We are quick to assume everyone has internet access and thus an online identity, so much so, the few occasions where I am faced by someone without a social media profile baffles me. The nature of the internetā€™s accessibility in the UK, with free Wi-Fi being available in so many places and almost every household having internet access, we struggle to even fathom a world existing without the internet. Continue reading →

Topic 4

In this day and age, you would be forgiven for thinking that people donā€™t want privacy. Many people, celebrities in particular, plaster their daily lives on social media to complete strangers. Their main motivation for this is business orientated, with each ā€œlikeā€, ā€œtweetā€ or ā€œviewā€ they get translating into a financial reward. Although being an ā€œinternet celebrityā€ may not seem like a legitimate business to some, it is clear people are making large amounts of money from it. Continue reading →

Business, social media and childrenā€¦ A recipe for ā€˜ethicalā€™ disaster?

  Ā            Business based social media accounts can be a risky affair. Iā€™m sure all pages are created with good intentions – promoting business, gaining a following and perhaps making a profit of some sort. However, various ethical issues (which are seldom given any degree of thought before making said accounts) can arise. Ethics are considered to be moral principles (BBC, 2014). Continue reading →

Who gets left behind?

As we have explored in previous weeks, we are living in a digital age whereby technology is used within most aspects of our everyday lives. For example, this module is based fully on online interactivity. Whilst this is the norm for most of us, with the UK moving up on the connectivity table to eighth place, many developing countries do not have such advancements. Officials forecast that almost 40% of the world’s population would be online by the end of the year. Continue reading →

Topic 4 ā€“ Give me back my pictures!

In one of my previous blog posts, I have mentioned ‘Catfish’ and how this was one of the many negatives of having multiple online identities. For those who perhaps did not see this post, the video below is a quick overview of ‘Catfish’. I think it is fair to say that ‘catfishing’ is an increasingly common issue occurring online. However, the view which is most commonly portrayed is that of the person who has been ‘catfished’. Continue reading →

It is better to be safe, than arrested.

When I was younger we would be taught ethical sayings such as ā€œmoney is the route of all evilā€, and you believe that this 3rd party object is what causes humans to act terribly. Now I understand that it is not money that is evil, the evil part is within human nature and the money is just an object which facilitates it; just like the internet has become a platform to facilitate negativity. The ā€œevilā€ I wish to focus on is a macro online privacy issue we are all at risk to it. Continue reading →

Topic 4: Digital Divide

Digital divide is ā€˜the existence of gaps in society between those who use technology and those who donā€™tā€™ (Ball, 2011). VIDEO 1 : What is Digital Divide? Ā The cause of the issue is the unequal access to technology which includes oneā€™s ability to own technology as well as the ability to keep it up-to-date. This reason is driven by economics or an individualā€™s financial standing. Continue reading →

Discrimination, social media and getting a job

This post will continue along the theme of online identity and how it can affect our employment prospects. No matter what our privacy settings can we ever keep our data private? Realistically the answer is no and that is why we should be careful about what we post online as potential employers will more than likely be able to view our posts and information. 77% of companies now use social media to screen candidates showing itā€™s increasing importance. Continue reading →

Teachers Beware!

There was always excitement in school when someone found the social media profile of a teacher. It is a little window into their life that you don’t normally get to see, but ethically there can be issues that occur when a teacher has social media and it is used in the wrong way. Below is a video I created on teachers use of social media: Source. Teachers are increasingly becoming under pressure in the internet age with social media being a key part of that. Continue reading →

Always Watching

Ethics: moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity. Given the above defenition, catfishing and the ethics relating to ones personal use of social media springs to mind first. Certainly, this would be an easier blog to write as there is a wealth of readily available material out there already (see here). Continue reading →

Topic 4: social media ethics

Please read these notes and check out the links below, before preparing and posting your answer to the set question. This document should be regarded as just the start of the discussions, which are then developed over the next two weeks through the conversations themselves and the sharing of further relevant links. These articles are intended to give you a flavour of the topic, and get you started on answering the Topic 4 set question below. Continue reading →