Ethics and Social Media: Where Should You Draw The Line?

Ethics is a very gray zone and needs to be navigated very carefully; it is more about the perception of what is right and wrong and for different people these perceptions will be different. There are more questions than answers and there is no definite end to this argument; in the end it really comes down to the user and the provider to define the boundaries. What do you think? Where do you stand in terms of this argument about ethics in social media?

Is there really a link between Social media and ethics? Are social media to blame for every unethical behavior observed in a company? This topic raises many questions. 

The study (done with U.S. workers only) conducted by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC), the National Business Ethics Survey (NBES), aroused the curiosity of the author Jay Shepherd, of Medical Center HR director Dwane Lay, and of Kristen Fyfe, senior communications manager.

This study shows that, overall, social networker tend to be more tolerant and open-minded than other workers. They question the actual and old ethics policies, and will develop relationship with other (colleagues, potential customers and partners) more easily. However, social media does affect their “perception of ethics” which is also influenced by employees’ background.

One of the issues raised is how other workers perceive their colleagues that are active social networkers. Most of people tend to think social networkers show more unethical behaviors at work than other workers.

Another issue is the “time-wasting” one. It is important to remember that social media are not the only “time-wasting” cause. The “time-wasting” issue existed way before social media appeared and it will exist long after they disappear. Among the factors we can find sports, coffee/cigarette breaks, morning/before work chitchat, etc. The only thing that differentiates social media from other factors is that they are measurable and transparent.

The main recommendation to prevent from dealing with unethical situations, would be to “be professional”, as Shepherd say, not only on the web but it every situation. Acting unprofessionally will inevitably leads to questionable and unethical behaviors.

Secondly, companies should make sure their employees have read and understood the policy as unsexy it may seem. It will reduce the risk that active social networkers (who “represent” the company on social media) talk unprofessionally bout the company or their colleagues.

Key words: social media, ethic

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/03/17/social-media-ethics/

Writer: France, Miki