Social Media: Ethical Issues
Headlines related to Topic 4, Ethics in Social Media, which was presented in an IBE Business Ethics Briefing, 2011.
The Rise of Social Media and Ethical Issues
Ultimately when we decide to post something online, conscious of whether it is public or not, it is available instantaneously and one can never be sure of the possible consequences. As seen in the development of this UOSM2008 module, social media allows individuals greater access to material, and across many platforms we are able to retweet and/or share this content without thinking twice about the content’s original publisher. Therefore, the content an individual posts can become difficult to control and business professionals and those in education especially, need to remain aware.
Reputation Risk
The use of social media by business professionals, whether that be on behalf of the company or through their personal accounts, raises some ethical questions. Following the characteristics mentioned above, there is a risk of using social media in an inappropriate way which could result in harmful damage of the company’s reputation and integrity, and in turn, would have detrimental effects for the employee in question. This is also true for those working in education, and teachers especially will have to be extremely cautious when posting personal content online. Numerous ethical issues exist which could result from irresponsible social media use, such as posting about students or bad mouthing the school/colleagues for students to see for example.
One business example which received wide media attention was the case of, ironically, a PR executive Justine Sacco #HasJustineLandedYet. Shortly before boarding a flight to Africa, Justine posted a distasteful and insensitive “joke” which rapidly gained attention through multiple retweets unbeknown to Justine who was in the air whilst this story developed, and therefore she was unable to control the backfire. Inevitably she ended up being fired from her job after damaging not only her own integrity, but the reputation of the company.
Image from Buzzfeed showing the vast reach of the story.
What must be remembered by all is the fine line between personal and professional use of social media; even if you don’t explicitly state which company you work for on your online profile, you are constantly representing them and so it is imperative that you avoid posting offensive material. The case of Justine shows how one wrong move can be devastating, she only had 200 followers at the time, but you can see in the image above the worldwide reach.
Perfectly summarising integrity risk in Issue 22, IBE, 2012
Marketing Ethical Challenges:
Social Media is a powerful advertising tool for companies, and given the interactive nature, it allows the company to reach out to a wide target audience. However, with all eyes on them, it brings ethical challenges. Many companies are now trying to relate with consumers on a personal level through Twitter; a memorable example which springs to mind is the pun-tastic exchange between @TeaAndCopy and Sainsbury’s, please check out the amusing interaction here. Each post received a great response from the public and it shows how, when used effectively, social media can enhance a company’s reputation.
Twitter, the way to gain publicity is by sparking a reaction from the public… But is all publicity, good publicity?
Another example is with Tesco Mobile responding to a joke made at their expense, this gained them many retweets and so, publicity. However, how long until a company steps over the line with an insensitive joke perhaps? Mashable highlights some horror stories endured by companies facing backlash over their social media usage, usually following a misjudged remark.
In conclusion, the professional world faces a number of ethical issues with social media, however this is not just limited to employees, companies also need to be aware of posting content which could be deemed offensive and remain cautious whilst trying to promote an event or product. In today’s society, previous examples of twitter backlash, has shown how the public are quick to jump on a twitter trend as they watch the fall from the top. The importance of ethical issues must be understood as one wrong move could spell disaster for all involved.
References:
Business Ethics Briefing (2011) The Ethical Challenges of Social Media. Institute of Business Ethics [Online] Available at: https://www.ibe.org.uk/userassets/briefings/ibe_briefing_22_the_ethical_challenges_of_social_media.pdf [Accessed: 18th March 2014]
Deloitte, Social Networking and Reputational Risk in the Workplace, 2009
DLA Paper, Op cit
Vinganio, A. (2013) This is how a woman’s tweet became the world’s top story. Buzzfeed. http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/this-is-how-a-womans-offensive-tweet-became-the-worlds-top-s
