Question: Discuss ONE of the ethical issues raised by educational OR business use of social media that you consider to be particularly significant.
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With its ability to reach millions of customers at the same time, social media has given the users the ability to make informed purchasing choices through reviews and forums. But it’s rapid rise to popularity has seen marketers scrambling to either keep up or get out. (Brown, 2014)
Taken from: Tumblr
Social Media is like this picture of Ariel. There’s always a dark side to everything nice.
One ethical issue I have against social media is Integrity & Security.
Social media cites are often known to invade the user’s privacy by collecting and storing data. This data can then be sold to advertisers. One example would be Youtube. Whereby the demographics, interest and viewing habits are observed. Advertisers are then able to send out adverts that are based on the viewer’s interest. Hence targeting a very niche or specific audience only. (Youtube.com, 2014)
The Bad Stuff
When I first learned of this, my reaction was…
“ARE YOU STALKING ME??????”
With the prevalence of social media usage now, It almost feel like there is somebody watching you. You have no sense of privacy, a cookie is stalking you.
The last issue I would like to mention is the integrity risk for the company. Employees are the ones who controls what goes on in the social media platforms. What happens if your employee is not honest?
In March 2011, Nestle’s employee had replied rudely to a fan in their official Facebook page. Hence violating Nestle’s business principle of integrity and commitment. “Avoid any conduct that could damage or risk Nestle or its reputation”. (Institute of Business Ethics, 2011)
Needless to say, the backlash received sent Nestle and its crisis management team into a frenzy.
The Good Stuff
The only thing I could appreciate about this issue is behavioral targeting (when information is collected through the individual’s web browsing activities).
Companies spend a little effort to ensure that the messages they want to send out are received by the right people. No longer do I see adverts as spam. Well, actually I still do, but at the very least. I am sometimes interested in what they have to say.
In Conclusion…
Social media can be a double edge sword. It can be detrimental to the company if not properly handled and extreme annoying to customers if considered spam. However if used properly, social media is a great tool because of its ability to select and target the appropriate audience.
References
Brown, T. (2014). The Befitting Brand: Ethical Use of Social Media in Business. [online] Digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk. Available at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/social-media-marketing/the-befitting-brand-ethical-use-of-social-media-in-business/844 [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Institute of Business Ethics, (2011). The Ethical Challenges of Social Media. [online] Available at: http://www.ibe.org.uk/userassets/briefings/ibe_briefing_22_the_ethical_challenges_of_social_media.pdf [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Youtube.com, (2014). Advertise – YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/yt/advertise/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
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