ethics in social media

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Current Ethical Cases in Social Media Journalism 676: Social Media & the News Prof. Sue Robinson Ryan Evans and Jenni Fields

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  • 1. Current Ethical Cases in Social MediaJournalism 676: Social Media & the News Prof. Sue Robinson Ryan Evans and Jenni Fields

2. Defining Social Media Ethics Social media ethics is the practice of usingcorrect conduct and good character whilenavigating social platforms. This can be a gray area because social media anddigital media in itself is gray. 3. Ethics & the Five Deadly Since of Social Media1.Unreported Endorsements2.Improper Anonymity3.Compromising Consumer Privacy4.Overly Enthusiastic Employees5.Using the Online Community to Get FreeWorkAccording to Forbes.com article, Ethics and the Five Deadly Sins of Social Media by DavidVinjamuri, published Nov. 3, 2011. 4. Social Media Ethics in the Workplace Is it ethical to use social media in the workplace? 42% of active social networkers (ASN) feel its acceptable to post both negative and positive workplace comments on social media. Traditional companies are having a hard time adapting to this. Many companies have placed social media restrictions into place, which is not allowing their employees to use platforms. 42% of ASN felt pressure to compromise to these standards. Sites like Yammer allow for internal communications on a social media sites.http://socialmediaweek.org/washingtondc/2012/02/16/to-tweet-or-not-to-tweet-the-use-of-social-media-in-the-workplace-raises-ethical-issues/#.USrNyjA4srU 5. Social Media Ethics in the Workplace http://www.ethicalcorp.com/stakeholder-engagement/social-media-challenges-do-employees-tweet-your-values (click) Advice for companies using social media:http://work.chron.com/use-social-media-corporate-ethics-7311.html (click) 6. Corporate Social Media Ethics Companies need to develop a social mediacode of ethics to be tied in with the overallcode of ethics. This is important so the brand is representedconsistently across all channels. Implement social media terms and conditions. For example, If youre an alcohol brand, putting adisclaimer that you only allow followers who areover 21. (ex. @CoorsLight) 7. Five Steps to Social Media Ethics forCompanies1. Develop a code of ethics consistent with your companys overall code of ethics.2. Establish a lexicon of social media terms and tools.3. Establish companys SM profiles & accounts on the necessary SN sites.4. Assign a team to review your SM policy.5. Select & deploy company-wide version of your preferred SM monitoring tool.http://www.business2community.com/social-media/5-steps-to-social-media-ethics-0149145 8. Twitter Hacks! The recent Twitter hacks of @BurgerKing and@Jeep lead to the @MTV and @BET accountsto be hacked also But it turned out to be a viral marketingscheme. 9. MTVs Response Its a coordinated gag between the social team forMTV and our sister channel, BET. "Its all in the spiritof good fun. Kurt Patat, a vice president at MTV Networks http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/mtv-bet-twitter-hacks_n_2719086.html 10. This hackhad a mixed reception. 11. The Pros MTV hack promoted sister station and BET event Hashtag and attempts to get trending #MTVhack http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/best-tools-to-summarize-twitter-hashtags.html Mashable article said it was a risky move, but:Some brands would need to worry about therepercussions against a fake hack. This, however,is MTV, a.k.a., the network that made PUNKd ahit TV series. http://mashable.com/2013/02/19/mtv-bet-twitter-hack/ 12. The Cons You have to say, its bad timing to do a publicitystunt when there are legitimate brand accountsbeing hacked," said Joe McCaffrey of marketing firmHUGE http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/19/4006718/after-mtv-and-bets-fake-hacking-the-jokes-on-twitter Barry Waite, a public relations professional andprofessor at Centennial College, says it was ajuvenile strategy http://o.canada.com/2013/02/20/why-mtv-was-wrong-to-fake-hack-their-own-twitter-account/#.US0i0DA4srU 13. Things to ponder Due to the timelessness of the internet, this willnever be forgotten how does this affect theMTV brand? There is a growing reliance on social media asnews sources what problems do companiesattempting stunts like fake hacks reflect onreporters? Twitter is worried because they are trying toprotect their company as a legitimate platform how does this reflect on Twitter? Should they takeaction or respond? 14. Anonymity on Social Media New media allows for anonymity to beprominent. This brings up questions of not only newssources, but also cyber-bullying, corporate ethcis,etc. Also, it raises the questions of how anonymityworks for brands vs. people. Case study: Chik-Fil-A Sets up Fake FB Page http://mashable.com/2012/07/25/chick-fil-a-accused- of-setting-up-fake-facebook-account/ 15. Katy Culver vs. UW Confessions Consider the recent Twitter spat between UWJ-School professor Katy Culver and TheCreator of the UW Confessions FB page andTwitter feed. http://storify.com/BadgerHerald/the-creator-vs-katy-culver/slideshow Discuss! What are guidelines for anonymity on socialmedia platforms? 16. Privacy Concerns Consumer privacy: On a public platform, howmuch personal information should sites berequired to keep private? Does this bring in the ethical questions of targetedonline advertising? 17. Case study: Privacy on Facebook Your information on Facebook including infothat may be sensitive and potentiallydamaging doesnt require much specialaccess to uncover. For instance 18. 4.7 million liked a FB page about health conditions ortreatments (details an insurer could use against you). 4.8 million have used FB to post where they planned ongoing that day (burglar tip-off). 20.4 million included birth date (identity thieves). 39.3 million identified family members on their profile. 900k discussed finances on their FB wall. 1.6 million liked a page pertaining to racial or ethnicaffiliations. 2.3 million liked a page regarding sexual orientation. 7.7 million liked a page pertaining to religious beliefs. 2.6 million discussed alcohol use on their wall. 4.6 million discussed their love lives on their wall.Stats from: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/consume r-reports-facebook-privacy-problems-are-rise-749990 19. Problems with the FB info we share Some dont use privacy controls FB collects more data than you may think Your data is shared more widely than you maylike/be aware of Legal protections are spotty And problems are on the rise 20. Some tips for FB privacy Think before you type Regularly check your exposure Review individual privacy settings Know what you cant protect UnPublic your wall Turn off tag suggest Block apps and sites that snoop Keep wall posts from friends If all else fails, deactivate. 21. Angel Fraley vs. Facebook, Inc. 2011 class action lawsuit in California againstFacebook alleging misappropriation of usersnames and likenesses in Sponsored Storiesads. 22. Settlement Facebook agreed to a deal which: Mechanism for users to find out if they are appearing in Sponsored Stories ads. Mechanism for users to prevent future appearances in Sponsored Stories. Change in terms of use to inform users they can be used in SSs. Gives parents control over whether their minor children can appear in ads at all. Gives minors the ability to completely opt-out of all ads while theyre minors. Allows affected users to file a claim that may result in an award of $10. 23. Did you get an e-mail? On Jan. 2, 2013, FB began to send notices ofthe proposed settlement to approx. 125million users (myself included). If you appeared in a Sponsored Story on FBbefore Dec. 2012, you probably got an e-mail. 24. So, who owns your information? The million dollar question for social media. Do free sites like Facebook have the rights to thecontent and information that you share on theirsite? (They desperately want to so that they canmake money). One alternative is for SM sites like Facebook tocharge for their services. Would you pay to use FB to protect your privacy? Discuss! 25. How else can we engage in media ethics? UW Center for Journalism Ethics annualconference is on Friday, April 5 this year. More info:http://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/conference/ Theme: Who is Shaping the News Keynote speaker: Lowell Bergman, investigativejournalist specializing in the inner workings ofmass media and their influences.