#UOSM2008 Topic 4: Social Media Ethics
Evaluate the ethical issues raised by the use of social media.
Owing to the speed and scope of social media platforms, the instantaneous nature of content availability to a global audience poses many ethical challenges for users, particularly within companies.
Although the beneficial, heightened communications and customer engagement, which can often result when businesses utilise social media networks, the boundaries between employees’ personal and professional lives can often become blurred.
A great example of this is in an article I found in The Guardian, where a GP (Clare Gerada) explains her love of Twitter for interaction with healthcare professionals, patients and the public (a vital part of building lasting relationships), yet readily admits the difficulty in identifying the line of professionalism (Gerada, 2013).
Fortunately, the Royal College of GPs has created a “Social Media Highway Code” for guidance on professional social media use; a handbook applicable to many professions where the same ethical issues need to be taken into consideration.
A quote by social media consultant Jure Klepic summarises this issue nicely …
Some of the main ethical challenges posed by social media include:
- Integrity Risk
– An employee’s use of social media, if done so in an irresponsible manner, can undermine the company’s commitment to ethical practices.
– Even harder to control are an employee’s negative comments regarding a company on their personal social media profile.
– One example of this is in the case of Nestle, where an employee responded offensively to negative comments on the company’s Facebook ‘Fan Page’. This behaviour violated company integrity rules whilst promoting consumer backlash. (Institute of Business Ethics, 2011). … (Unfortunately I can’t find the original comments made!)
- Advertising and Marketing Practices
– Companies advertising on social media need to be wary to avoid misleading customers.
– Employees using social media to discredit company competitor can jeopardise the firm’s ability to meet fair competitive guidelines.
- Duty of Care
– Blurred boundaries of work and personal life can often make it difficult for employers to fulfil their duty of care, particularly with matters of cyber-bullying.
As in most situations regarding the dangers of online use, particularly when utilising social media for both professional and personal uses, I think it’s the nature of use that determines the severity of these cases.
The range of opportunities created through appropriate use of social media platforms – highlighted in the case of Clare Gerada – can only occur when a level of responsibility and respect is undertaken regarding the line of professionalism when interacting with external, online communities (and most importantly when doing so through company networks).
References
Gerada, C., 2013. Using social media should be encouraged – but be aware of the risks. The Guardian. [online] 22nd March. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2013/mar/22/social-media-healthcare-professionals-patients [Accessed: 19th March 2014]
Institute of Business Ethics, 2011. The Ethical Challenges of Social Media. [online] Available at: https://www.ibe.org.uk/userassets/briefings/ibe_briefing_22_the_ethical_challenges_of_social_media.pdf [Accessed: 20th March, 2014]
