Topic 4 – Reflective Summary

Right, reflective summary time. First thing to reflect on is the fact that this is late due to the distractions that come with finishing a term (aka drinking far too much then recovering and realising how little money you have until your next student loan payment). So my self organisational skills and time-keeping are clearly things that I need to pay more attention to.

It has been intriguing to look at the ethical implications of the use of social media in the educational and business sectors. The effects that it can have on anyone who uses social media are widespread as evidence by the way the #HasJustineLandedYet? incident had on Justine Sacco’s life; effectively costing her job after it came to public attention. The way in which businesses can also intrude on the privacy of individuals and use the information gathered to decide whether or not to employ a person.

This intrusion and the public backlash that may be experienced by some surely requires some form of ethical guidelines to minimise the damage done to personal reputations? Is it right that a company can reject you for a position based upon what you do in your private life?

Looking at this has definitely made me realise that everything you post can have ethical implications for you in your offline life as well as online, but it has also made me think about measures that should be put in place to limit the impact it can have. With proper measures in place – either enforced by the social media companies or a higher authority – the abuse dished out to individuals and the invasion of privacy committed by potential employers could, and some would argue should, be negated.