#uosm2008, Page 6

Reading an article in The Guardian on  ‘Twitter abuse’ caused me to ask the question: Are social media sites a platform for unrestricted communication? Or do they acquire the legal responsibilities of a publisher? An ethical issue that I consider particularly significant is related to not only social media, but media outlets too, where the comments section allows for anyone to anonymously have their say on articles and stories that have been published. Continue reading →

Focusing on making social media an effective and efficient method in learning and teaching come with few concerns regarding its use in their practise. I consider cyberbullying and Interllectual property in social media to be the most significant issues raised by educational use of social media. The balance between freedom of speech and censorship: cyberbullying occurs when cyber-disinhibition which comes with being online, especially when people are unknown to one another. Continue reading →

15 million users in the UK alone use Twitter as a platform for communication to access news and to read and share tweets – which is why social media is great for businesses. But while it’s encouraged to share your thoughts, there’s an increasing risk of identity theft. Twitter allows users to a certain a sense of anonymity where users can create ‘fake’ accounts to abuse others [1]. “It has given a voice to people who have often felt excluded and powerless. Continue reading →

We all know and love social media. It gives us a chance to network, share opinions & passions and follow those we admire. However, as seen on any corner of the web, there will always be a darker and more unethical side within the wider picture. Ethics (n) of or relating to moral principles. From this definition taken from the OED, we can see that the term ‘ethics’ is quite simply synonymous with morality in your behaviours (OED, 2014) and, in a sense, the ability to be virtuous. Continue reading →

The UK is the 8th most connected country in the World in terms of Internet Connectivity according to the UN, with 80% of households having an Internet connection (Kelion, 2013). For companies harnessing the power of Digital Marketing this can be a complete goldmine, but for the Consumer and The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) (Langford, 2014). Continue reading →

As we are now young adults, hoping to enter the ‘real world’ of business in few years to come on. Some of us might even have secured a job or an internship this summer. We need to start behaving like ethical employees, so it is good to THINK before you post in the workplace (Think has been capitalized for a reason. Keep reading…) Below is a poster that I have created [1]. “Before you post THINK”. Continue reading →

Social media is a great tool for businesses.  Not only can they communicate with customers on an accessible (and increasingly popular) platform, but they can promote products and services to a massive audience – Twitter alone has over 270 million active users.[1] When it comes to advertising, Twitter is also key to a successful campaign.  There’s now even the term ‘reactervising': when businesses react to live events with adverts. Continue reading →

Identity theft is a challenging subject which very few people understand, nor believe it will happen to them. Whilst traditional ideas of identity theft consists of bank fraud (not shredding bank statements), there’s a new strain of fraud associated with our online identities. As an avid user of social media, and a lover of Facebook and Instagram, I feel strongly in favour of the right to privacy – and websites should be doing more to help us with it. Fire et al. Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →

Prior to the digital revolution, options of being heard were limited to the ‘Speakers corner’. In the 80’s, chances that you could influence someone were small, as you had to be educated, whereas now, all you need is the Internet and a “click that reverberates around the world” (Lewinsky 2015) Today, if we speak strongly about something, YouTube can be our Speakers Corner, as well as Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc., as a cultural gatekeeper no longer controls us. Continue reading →