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Ethical Issues in Social Networking Research (PDF Available) · October 2015 with 569 Reads DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4289.6080   2015­10­10 T 12:12:03 UTC

1st Ameer Ahmed Khan National University of Sciences and Technology Abstract This is a term paper submitted during the course of Professional Practices. It is about Ethical Issues being faced while using social networks.

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File (PDF) DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4289.6080 ·Available from: Ameer Ahmed Khan, Oct 10, 2015  full­text PDF

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GIFT University Gujranwala

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Ethical Issues in Online Social Table of Contents Networking (Term Paper Submi ed to Mr. Zeyad Amin during the

Researched by Ameer Ahmed Khan

courseofofContents Professional Prac ces) Table .......................................................................................................................................... 2Introduc on .................................................................................................................................................. 3Statement ................................................................................................................................................. 3What is Online Social Networking? ........................................................................................................... 3Use of Social Networking Sites is Staggering. ........................................................................................... 3Why choose this topic? ............................................................................................................................. 4Ethical Dilemmas ........................................................................................................................................... 4Invasion of privacy .................................................................................................................................... 4Spamming ................................................................................................................................................. 4Public Bashing ........................................................................................................................................... 5Dishonesty and Distor on ........................................................................................................................ 5Improper Anonymity and Distorted Endorsements ................................................................................. 5 Misuse of free exper se and contests ...................................................................................................... 5Opportunism ............................................................................................................................................. 6Challenges related to Business Ethics ........................................................................................................... 6Integrity risk .............................................................................................................................................. 6Recruitment prac ces ............................................................................................................................... 7Duty of Care .............................................................................................................................................. 7Adver sing and marke ng prac ces ........................................................................................................ 7Unavoidable Ethical Ques ons ..................................................................................................................... 8 U litarian perspec ve............................................................................................................................... 8Rights perspec ve ..................................................................................................................................... 8Fairness perspec ve ................................................................................................................................. 8Common good perspec ve ....................................................................................................................... 8Virtue perspec ve .....................................................................................................................................

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Ethical Issues in Social Networking (PDF  Available) ..................................................................................................................................... 9Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 9Sugges ons ................................................................................................................................................... 9References .................................................................................................................................................. 10

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Introduction In this millennium genera on technology, machinery is evolving at daily basis there are a lot of things being e ected with this evolu on. One of which is our practices of social networking which is largely shi ing to the internet causing a lot of ethical issues which were not faced before these online social networking prac ces. In this research paper, rst of all there is a brief descrip on of the background and scenario, second thing to be discussed is the Ethical dilemmas in online social networking which are being faced these days. There will be a sec on covering the issues related to the impact of unethical usage of online social networks in business industry. There are also some unavoidable ques ons which are highly debatable but because of the nature and boundaries of this paper those ques ons will be raised leaving them undebated.

Statement What are the Ethical issues in Online Social Networking that we are facing at this very moment while using most of the online social networks.

What is Online Social Networking? Online social networking is the use of dedicated websites or applica on in order to interact with other people who also those social networking sites having same interests or knowing you from other circles, groups or communi es. Social networking is the basis of a society and it was always possible in person but in this era of high speed data transmission social networking has evolved through internet and has added di erent colors and avors according to the needs of me. There are plenty of features being o ered by social networking sites (SNS) which include making your pro le, nding people with mutual interests, sharing with your circles or groups, interac ng with people in your groups and ge ng the informa on shared by other people.

Use of Social Networking Sites is Staggering.

The use of social networking sites is staggering and has become a very common prac ce of daily rou ne of a lot of people now a days. The most famous www.facebook.com started in 2004 and was used as a mean to connect students at Harvard University (1). Now the website is having more than 200 million ac ve s who 850 million photos collec vely and 8 million videos to this website every month 4 (facebook.com). Moreover, according to Kaiser Family Founda on 71% of 15 to 17 year-old Internet s par cipate in chat rooms (2).

Why choose this topic?

The reason These days people for choosing belonging this topic to di iserent that we ageall groups are haveand extensive di erentexperience elds of life of are using ac velysocial online usingnetworks social networks and while to connect using them to the we people have tothey face know some and kindto of ethical nd newissues. peopleSo, to connect this is thewith. bestSpending me to spread a lot ofawareness me there, about has increased the ethicalthe issues need being to ethics no ced in social at social networks https://idoc-pub.sitiosdesbloqueados.org/publication/282701876_Ethical_Issues_in_Social_Networking

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Ethical Issues in Social Networking (PDF  Available) the ethicalthe increased issues need being to ethics no ced in social at social networks as they are required networking websites.in real life.

Ethical Dilemmas With the rise of Online Social Networking, the ethical dilemmas are growing in number including viola on of privacy, misrepresenta on, bullying and creepiness. When the consumers are ge ng the facility of rela vely unrestricted social communica ons they are becoming more vulnerable to decep on and scams too at the same me which has become the reason of a en on for Social Networking Ethics. Few ethical dilemmas faced when di erent people use social networks are given below:

Invasion of privacy If the ac ons that break the law or of privacy of any of social network harms that individuals personal or professional credibility should be considered unethical. The invasion of privacy would include any nonpermissive approach taken to get any kind of personal or any other kind of informa on about an individual which can harm him or a ect him in any sense. While discussing social media ethics, behavioral targe ng is a ques onable area to consider. The adver sers tracking our shopping behaviors and click through pa erns to use that data in retarge ng campaigns. The posi ve point is that the viewers may appreciate the relevance of the material being adver sed to them but this is a kind of invasion of privacy. A very similar situa on occurs when marketers give their email lists to Facebook to use custom audience feature. They match those lists to the emails which are ed with them for targe ng.

Spamming Over-publicizing unasked promo onal messages is also considered as an unethical act based on how this is being done. In spamming s are usually bombarded with some kind of 5 informa on which does not interest them or even if it does, it is too extensive to be swallowed. In this situa on, the ’s rela ve informa on which he may be needing gets under the pile Public and mayBashing get ignored because of that useless pile of spamming which is obviously unethical from ’s ve. While using perspec social networks people think that they are private and they can express

anything they want to but they are not as private as they think. Disparaging your compe tors in SNS (social networking sites) is considered unethical because of its broad range of nega ve impacts. Once you have posted something, it is not yours anymore and it can go viral as fast as a re in the forest without asking for your permission which then can’t only a ect your reputa on but also the person or company you were disparaging about, so much. This kind of cases can also raise a risk for legal lawsuits.

Dishonesty and Distortion There is no fair enough method to validate the honesty and authen city of social networking ac vi es of s. The intensions of social media usage include transparency of communica ons and other activi es posts through SNS. It is unethical to be dishonest about anything even on social networks. So, if you will make dishonest claims about yourself or anything else or go on commen ng o ensive material, it is going to a ect yourself or your company at the end. By doing such ac vi es you are jeopardizing your personal reputa on and your company’s name. So, we should all keep ethics in front of use even while using social media.

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Improper Anonymity and Distorted Endorsements

If one represent himself with wrong a lia ons, creden als or exper se, it is unethical to become anonymous but showing yourself to be someone di erent than you are. There are people who provide companies with their anonymous s which are not true and it has caused a lot of damage to companies by the stories of consumers of their products by fake stories. Hiring people to comment your favorable or fabricated stories about your company or your products are also considered unethical. Some employees are also found guilty of exaggera ng compe ve de ciencies.

Misuse of free expertise and contests With the increasing extensive use of Facebook contests and other crowdsourcing for solici ng design ideas, the par cipants have the risk of making their secrets open with no 6 reward. Most of the mes, design ideas are rewarded to the most pro table partners of the social network sponsor leaving many with unrewarded work. This abuse is especially Opportunism unethical if the sponsor knowingly gathers superior design ideas from contestants they have no inten on In objec ve of the compensa ng.of providing the communi es of social networking sites with contribu ons to their cause, the social media marketers provide content that subliminally walks

the at a self-serving path. These ac ons can be regarded as unethical or may be unprofessional based on their extent of decep on.

Challenges related to Business Ethics

Social media is having a lot of unique characteris cs when compared to tradi onal media forms. These characteris cs create ethical challenges for business when employees use social media on behalf of company and use for their personal representa on too.

Integrity risk In an IBE survey of large companies (3), 6 of 7 respondents iden ed integrity risk as the main ethical challenge with regard to social media. When an employee uses social media in an irresponsible way either on behalf of the company or through their personal social media , it can undermine the company’s commitment to ethical prac ce and expose it to integrity risk. The case of Nestle provides an example. In March 2011, an employee who was managing content on the company’s Facebook Fan Page posted o ensive comments in response to nega ve remarks by fans. The employee’s behavior violated the company’s business principle of integrity and their commitment to “avoid any conduct that could damage or risk Nestle or its reputa on” (4) and provoked a consumer backlash. Amidst calls to boyco Nestle, of the general public also ed the Fan Page speci cally to cri cize the Company (5). Alterna vely, employees might post nega ve comments about the company on their personal social media pro le. This is harder for companies to control. The DLA Piper survey found that one third of employers had disciplined sta for inappropriate comments about the company on social media sites (6).

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Recruitment practices A 2011 survey of 800 recruiters and human resource professionals found that 64% make use of two or more social networks as part of their assessment prac ces when recrui ng employees(7). There are also specialist organiza ons that provide social media employment

screening services. This raises ethical challenges for employers around employees‟ right to privacy and fairness. Is it ethical or fair to judge an individual’s ability to ful ll their employee responsibili es based on informa on about their personal lives, gained from their social media pro le? In some cases the informa on may relate to past ac vi es in a job candidate’s personal life. An Ethikos ar cle cited a case where an individual was denied a job due to his ac vi es posted online 20 years previously (8).

Duty of Care As highlighted previously, social media blurs the boundaries between personal and work life. When personal opinions expressed through social media (either on a personal pro le or an online forum) refer to a company, it raises an ethical challenge. It is unclear what control, if any, the company has over comments communicated in this way and what ac on it can/should take. The blurring of personal and work life boundaries can make it di cult for companies to uphold their duty of care to employees. For example, it is hard to monitor cases of „cyberbullying‟, par cularly where employees use their personal social media . One in ten UK workers believes that workplace cyber-bullying is a problem (9) and a h of employers have had to discipline sta for pos ng nasty comments about a colleague online (10). The same survey found bullying and harassment and discrimina on were two of the top ve risks of social media for the workplace.(11) The challenge for companies is iden fying acceptable levels of monitoring employees‟ personal use of social media, without being seen to limit their freedom of expression.

Advertising and marketing practices The scope and speed of social media make it an e ec ve medium through which companies market themselves and their products/services. With any form of marke ng, companies have a duty to market responsibly. The interac ve nature of social media provides companies with the ability to engage with 8 customers more directly than other forms of media. This poses new ethical challenges. It has become common prac ce for companies to create pro les on social networking sites to adver se Unavoidable Ethical Questions their goods and services. A company’s ability to meet fair compe on guidelines canperspective be jeopardized by Utilitarian employees using social media on behalf of the company; example, if an employee, whilst The recentfor hacking of Petaluma High School represen ng the company, takesthe maposersng into student MySpace s and their own hands‟ and uses social media of threatening messages highlight some possible unethically, to discredit the reputa on of their harms of social networking. MySpace, employer’s compe FaceBook, and othertors. sites have been the scene of cyberbullying and online preda on. But the

same technology allows people to connect with others they might never have met and form meaningful rela onships. How do we balance these harms and bene ts, reducing the one and increasing the possibility of the other?

Rights perspective Do social networkers have a right to privacy? More and more s of Facebook and MySpace are nding that prospec ve employers https://idoc-pub.sitiosdesbloqueados.org/publication/282701876_Ethical_Issues_in_Social_Networking

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Ethical Issues in Social Networking (PDF  Available) MySpace are nding that prospec ve employers are perusing their sites, despite the fact that they may conceive of their online presence as personal space. Also, what is a private person’s right to control the images and informa on about them available on line? David Weisbrot, president of the Australia Law Reform Commission, which has been inves ga ng online privacy, comments, “Laws designed to protect privacy in the outside world struggle to cope with the issues raised by online communi es. For example, online publica on of photo-graphs, which may be sensi ve and revealing, raises new challenges in rela on to consent.”

Fairness perspective Some people believe social networking sites o er the ul mate in egalitarianism. When we interact with others online, we have no real way of knowing whether they are white or black, male or female, fat or thin, young or old. Will this disembodied quality of the online world lead to greater fairness, or will we lose the ability to engage concretely with others, and therefore truly overcome di erences?

Common good perspective Pope Paul IV described the common good as “the sum of those condi ons of social life which allow social groups and their individual member’s rela vely thorough and ready access to their own ful llment.” Certainly, many people turn to social networking sites to connect with social groups that share their interests and values. What would the common good look like in 9 this context? Does ful llment have the same meaning online as it does in the “real world?” Are there ways to structure online communi es so that they be er promote the common good of their ?

Virtue perspective Many of the interpersonal virtues we value evolved in the context of face-to-face communica on. Honesty, openness, and pa ence, for example, are honed in the nego a ons we must manage when we meet people in person. What impact will digital media have on these virtues? What, for example, would honesty mean in the context of a world where people are represented by avatars? Will other virtues emerge as more important in social networking,

where we can be constantly connected to a large reservoir of others and can shut o communica ons easily when we are bored or encounter di cul es?

Conclusion This discussion concludes that where there are numerous bene ts of social networking sites there is an increasing challenge of ethical issues which are being faced on social networks. There are some issues which can be considered under legal lawsuits, while others are issues of pure ethics. These ethics should be properly de ned and spread over to all the s of social networks. There should be some struggle to spread the awareness of these ethics.

Suggestions It is suggested that the social media ethics should be properly wri en and their awareness should be spread. s of SNS should be promoted to follow those ethics and to exercise them should be a liated to some kind of incen ve to a ract people towards it.

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References

(1) Stone, Brad. “Facebook.” The New York Times 7 December 2007. 11 November 2008. (2) h ps://www.lagrange.edu/resources/pdf/cita ons/2009/10Cornerstone_Williams.pdf (3) Survey of 7 companies with 2,000 employees or more, IBE, 2011 (4) Nestlé, Code of Business Conduct, 2007. Available at: h p://www.nestle.com/Investors/CorporateGovernance/ CodeOfBusinessConduct/Pages/CodeOfBusinessConductHome.aspx (5) Nestlé hit by Facebook "an -social" media surge, The Guardian, 19 March 2011. Available at: h p:// www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/nestlefacebook To correspondence view some of the on Nestlé‟s Facebook page, see: What other companies can learn from Nestlé‟s Facebook page, Digital Inspira on, h p:// www.labnol.org/internet/nestle-facebookpage/13208/ (6) DLA Piper, Op cit (7) New Tools Cast a Wider Social Network for Recruiters, by Rita Pyrillis, Workforce Management Online, August 2011 (8) Social media monitoring raises disturbing ques ons: An Ethikos interview with Kansas State‟s Diane Swanson, Ethikos, CitationsCitations0 ReferencesReferences2

September/October 2011, pp.7-9

(9) See: ACAS Research Paper (2009), Workplaces Facebook The New York Times. Brad Stone. 2008. Nestlé hit by Facebook "anti­social" media surge, The Guardian Available at: http:// www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable­business/nestle­facebook To view and Social Networking: The implica ons some of the correspondence on Nestlé " s Facebook page, see: What other companies can learn from Nestlé " s Facebook page, Digital Inspiration. Code for employment rela ons, pp.28, by Andrea Nestlé, Of Business, Conduct. 2007­04.Op cit. Broughton, Tom Higgins, Ben Hicks and

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