(Hawking, 2014)
Evolving social attitudes along with the advancement of technology have since transform social media original intention for ‘social’ use into a multi-use tool for individuals, businesses and educational purposes. In today’s post, I will be focusing on the ethical issues raised by business use of social media.
There is a plethora of ethical concerns for businesses when it comes to social media. Arguably one of the greatest causes of ethical issues in the business use of social media is the use of it in recruitment practices. As mentioned before in Topic 2 and 3 on how employers today use social media channel to screen applicants. This use of social media by businesses raises ethical considerations around privacy and fairness.
Is it ethical to judge an employee’s ability to conduct their job based on information about their personal life?
Further to this, a research study by DLA Piper reported that one third of employers have disciplined staff for inappropriate comments on a social media site about the company (DLA Piper, 2011), but do companies have the right to do this, especially if it is in the employees’ personal domain?
This will bring us to my next point on reputation risk. Since companies can be liable for material published by their employees on blogs and social networks either on behalf of the company or through their own personal account, any adverse content can be seen as an integrity risk for the company. One business example which received wide media attention was the case of Justine Sacco #HasJustineLandedYet. Shortly before boarding a flight to Africa, Justine posted an incredibly controversial tweet which later gained a huge amount of attention through multiple retweets. Inevitably she ended up being fired from her job after damaging not only her own integrity, but the reputation of the company. Same could be apply for education as mention about Stacy Snyder in my previous post.
From these example, it is important to put in place clear cut guidelines to ensure ethical standards are met. This suggestion could be supported with this article by Institute of Business Ethics, where they mention the need for companies to invoke a social media policy that provides guidance to employees when using social media in the context of using a company account and a personal account (Institute of Business Ethics, 2011).
I believe that if there is a proper managing of social media accounts, this platform could truly be a powerful tool to market the company or their campaign. Not convinced? Check out this interesting pun exchange between @TeaAndCopy and Sainsbury’s on Twitter.
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Reference
DLA Piper, (2011). KNOWING YOUR TWEET FROM YOUR TREND: KEEPING PACE WITH SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE WORKPLACE. [online] Available at: http://www.dlapipershiftinglandscapes.com/export/sites/shifting-landscapes/downloads/Shifting_Landscapes_-_Social_Media.pdf [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Hawking, T. (2014). No, the Internet Isn’t Killing Free Speech. [online] Flavorwire. Available at: http://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/freedom-of-speech-megaphone.jpg [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Institute of Business Ethics, (2011). Business Ethics Briefing. [online] Available at: http://www.ibe.org.uk/userassets/briefings/ibe_briefing_22_the_ethical_challenges_of_social_media.pdf [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Kaufman, G. (2007). Woman Denied Degree Over ‘Drunken Pirate’ MySpace Photo Sues School. [online] MTV News. Available at: http://www.mtv.com/news/1558467/woman-denied-degree-over-drunken-pirate-myspace-photo-sues-school/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Nisen, M. (2013). IAC PR Director Lands In South Africa After Racist Tweet, And It’s A Mess. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/justine-sacco-landing-live-tweeting-2013-12?IR=T& [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
Stainthorpe, C. (2014). Sainsbury’s Fish Jokes: Don’t Mis-Hake them for Good Customer Service – being CustomerSure – Proven advice from Business Rockstars. [online] being CustomerSure – Proven advice from Business Rockstars. Available at: http://www.customersure.com/blog/sainsburys-social-media-jokes-customer-service/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
torws 
Hi Torws,
You have a very thought provoking question there: “Is it ethical to judge an employee’s ability to conduct their job based on information about their personal life?”
I would like to share my point of view on this. Personally, I do not think it is appropriate. Individual’s ability should not be judged based on information about their personal life through social media. However, it sure does reflect some personalities, characteristics and lifestyle they are engaging in day to day basis. And in reference to Stacy Snyder’s case, I will not doubt her passion to teach and her ability to be an excellent educator. But dont you think if she wants to be an educator, there are some restrictions she should adhere to? I am not inferring that the school was right to deny her degree without giving her a chance to explain, but she probably should have give a considerable amount of thought to what she post online. What do you think?
Looking forward to your reply 🙂
Cheers,
Evelina
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Hi Evelina!
Thanks for the response, I do agree with you how this information about their personal life reflect some personalities, characteristics and lifestyle they are engaging in day to day basis. In reference to Stacy Snyder’s case, I pretty much agree with you on how she could have give some consideration on what she post online (In reference to my reply to Issac comment on my previous post).
I could perhaps relate to this much better, as I used to be in the military service where I hold a relatively respectable position. I would always think through what I post and upload (considering how singaporean like to stomp),as the last thing I want is to be call in to my superior office for an explanation.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts :))
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Hi Tor!
Your question about judging an employee’s ability to conduct a job based on information on their personal life really gave me a moment to think about it. It is really scary how some one third of the companies take action against employees when they upload something nasty about the company on social media, especially when they live in a country with freedom of speech.
However, after reading Evelina’s post, I feel that it is up to the own individual to practice self-control before uploading such nasty stuff that would affect the reputation of the company. Moreover, they should be in the know when there are so many past records of people being punished for uploading nasty stuff about the company.
Do you think self-control is more important than having the companies to come out with clear cut guidelines for employees?
Hope to hear from you soon!
Cheers,
Aetiiqcaz
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Hi Aet!
Thanks for your response and you raise a very thought provoking question there.
I think that depend on who you ask, everyone will have different views on self control. I think in the modern world now, that there is a lot more to take into account and a lot more ‘grey’ areas in the guidelines (Not strict) of what you can say/not say and do/not do. Although it may have been a one time mistake, that mistake can badly affect both the company and the individual. In my opinion, both self control and companies guidelines are of importance, as I personally think that it will best for one to exercise some form of self control (protecting their integrity) complement by the guidelines from the companies (protecting the companies reputation).
Hope this answers your questions :))
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Hi Tor,
I like the flow of your post. It is clear, easy to understand and it’s engaging.
I understand that it is important for companies to place clear cut guidelines to ensure ethical standards are met. However, by doing that, does it mean that employees can only post positive things about the companies and not negative issues? If that is the case, what happens to freedom of speech? Isn’t it interfering with the freedom of speech like what your image says? Do you think that besides setting clear guidelines for the employees, the employers have to treat the employees equally, listen and take their opinions and feedbacks seriously and come out with solutions? The employees would then be happy working in the company and therefore, share their experiences and help create a positive word of mouth. Don’t you agree?
Anyway, great post! Keep it up!
Ruhuan.
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Hi Ruhuan,
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!
I understand about your concern on freedom of speech, that really got me thinking. But I believed that the key communication between employers and employees is very crucial over here. At times, detrimental opinions raised by employees were often lack of mutual understanding and communication in the first place which led them to post negative stuffs on social media out of discontentment and dissatisfaction.
Like what you have mentioned, I believed that if employers do their part in understanding the employees well enough by providing a fair treatment and allowing them to have their freedom of speech by voicing out if they have any problem, that will then strengthens the employees’ trust with the company.
Such practice will then prevent unwanted situations from occurring.
Furthermore, this is just a set of guidelines, not a strict regulation which restricts the freedom of speech.
It is important for each employee to understand that they are the brand ambassador of the company and also to understand that social media may not always be the right platform for employees to gain the attention of the employers’.
I believed that there are many such examples that are similar to Justine, where she has no ill-intention to cause harm towards the company.
But this is just a case of immorality act, whereby companies do have a reputation to uphold.
Thus, there is an important need for companies to invoke social media guidelines to protect the interest of both parties. 🙂
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Hey Wei Seong!
Very interesting argument you have there! Social media is so widely use in the business world especially for recruitment today. For the question “Is it ethical to judge an employee’s ability based on information about their personal life?”, I’ll say it depends. It may seem ethical from the employer’s perspective but not ethical from the employee’s perspective. Moreover, I think that the employer shouldn’t judge a person’s ability but employability based on their online appearance as one’s capability remains regardless of online behavior while improper social media usage of employees may expose the company to integrity risk.
On the other hand, I agree with you that companies should ensure clear communication regarding social media usage with their employees. In your opinion, what are the basic guidelines a company should consider in managing their employees’ online behavior? Do you think that will control the employee’s behavior effectively?
Daphne.
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Hi Daphne,
Thanks for your response. As mentioned that companies need to impose guidelines and train their staff on best practises on how to make better use of social media and to gain a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be a brand ambassador.
However, I believe the guidelines may differs depending on the business they are in. While doing some research, I chance upon this article that may answer your question to coming up with the proper company social media guidelines.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222688
In my opinion, here are 3 points which I feel are of most importance.
1. Make sure you disclose that you are affiliated with the Company.
2. Do no post misleading information
3. Be conscientious when mixing your business and personal lives
Ultimately, employee online behavior will definitely improve with a proper guidelines to follow and thus minimise the ethical issues.
Hope this answer your question :))
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