Topic 4: Reflection

This topic has been the most challenging one for me thus far, not only in terms of writing the post but also with commenting on others. Compared to topic one where we were given two terms, which allowed for easier understanding and interpretation. Ethics is not like this. As ethics is relative and therefore varies depending on culture, time, beliefs etc., it was hard to get a full grip on this topic.

Nonetheless, I’m always up for a challenge and carried out my research. Initially I was completely off topic and was talking about ethics and the Internet very vaguely. However, after further research and a very insightful TED talk by the one and only Monica Lewinsky, I realised there was a lot of angles to this topic and that there was more to social media and ethics than what meets the eye.

Participating in this module, and this topic in particular has made me more aware of not only how audiences can use social media in an unethical way but also businesses. Sarah’s post was very interesting as she used recent twitter examples that were relevant to the topic and also introduced a term in regards to social media ‘hijacking’ which intrigued me as I hadn’t noticed it before.

From this topic I have learnt that as soon as we sit behind a keyboard and log in, we become responsible for our actions online, both as individuals and companies. Whilst the issue of fake reviews, endorsements and hijacking may be on the rise, I don’t think it is something that will be resolved, as many companies see the opportunities that social media provides. Social media gets people talking, whether it’s in a good or bad way. As some might say, bad press is better than no press.

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Sarah and Leigh