We've spent several weeks trying to better understand the social media phenomenon by analysing case studies and discussing various topics in relation to social media usage. Upon some reflection, our group agreed that the ability engage in ethical communications is the most important skill to possess while engaging in social media activities. It is unpreventable that there will be grey areas in defining what is ethical and it is definitely not easy for an individual or company to constantly factor in ethical concerns whilst trying to achieve their objectives and goals.
Lipschultz (2015) suggests that new emerging ethical values in social media engagement includes truth and transparency. However, does this imply that communicating information in a separate online identity from reality due to privacy concerns will thus also be unethical? While these separate identities may be strategically used to be associated with desirable values, it also may simply be a case of one trying to avoid personal data from being tracked and exploited by commercial companies. Ethicality should be analysed by motivation and effects of identity use on social media.
To add on, social media allows one to achieve increased exposure to certain target audiences than other traditional media platforms. As such, it is difficult to resist using the platform to achieve one's goal and objectives even when lacking in time and resources. An example is having a representative to communicate via the identity of another person. Critics have pointed out that even responses in Obama's Reddit Q&A were handled by his representatives.
Yes, the world of social media opens us up to limitless possibilities in various communication fields such as marketing and journalism, but also gives rise to ethical issues that we should be concerned with, in order to attain the most desirable outcome from our social media engagements.
Image Credits:
Image 1: http://kevin.lexblog.com/2012/05/09/is-all-use-of-social-media-subject-to-legal-ethics-rules/
Image 2: http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/010/569/annoying_ads.jpg
Image 3: https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/240903767350968320
