Ethics, but whose ethics? - UOSM2008 2015 UOSM2008 2015

Each member of our blogging community has been asked to complete a retrospect after each topic. But we are also being prompted to share thoughts as we work, i.e. to share before, during and after.

Naturally I’ve taken to looking at what was produced last semester. I was really impressed by Sophie Collins’ use of Prezi, and decided the only way I can better it is to add sound – I’ve achieved this using an online tool which turns text into spoken word, where you can choose between different accents! http://www.readspeaker.com/voice-demo/. Otherwise, having looked back, I’ve decided that I didn’t want to simply do an update of someone else’s work.

So, strangely, the way I’ve approached this question was inspired by Jeremy Clarkson’s sacking by the BBC. I love Top Gear and am now in mourning so I asked myself whether the views expressed by the public on the BBC social media sites should influence their decision, and if they did give in to public pressure, whether this was ethically correct.

My question is as follows:

Companies use social media to tell customers about themselves, their products and their values. But this is a two way process, the public can use this communication channel to criticise actions that they see as wrong, unethical or immoral. In some instances there can be a snowball effect and the voice of the public becomes so loud that the company has to alter the way it works.

In the first of these two presentations I’ll look at some examples of where companies have been attacked on their own social media platforms. And the second presentation will look at the ethical issues.