This has arguably been the broadest topic so far and personally, it is the most challenging. The reason being is because there is a wealth of information regarding the ethical issues presented by social media within the workplace, and some decided to explore the issues raised in businesses like myself, while others focused on education.
Both Khairul and Jeanne shared pretty much the same idea about companies leveraging on incidences of others (usually misfortunate) to gain publicity, while some would call this ‘Social Bashing’. Perhaps, the best example of this will be the ongoing advertisements war between Apple and Samsung.
As mentioned in my previous post that many companies are now trying to relate with customers on a personal term through platform such as Facebook and Twitter. However, they will need to understand the potential backlash, which they may face with a misjudged remark. Here are some examples highlighted by BuzzFeed.
I have also came across a shocking post that has given me further insight on how unethical the industry could be. This example that I came across was on Trip Advisor. Showing on how the Hotel industry is often hit by fake and poor reviews from people (potentially other hotel owners) who claims that they have stayed there, which they never did, thus affecting their business. This has made me reconsider the point I brought up in Topic 2 on how anonymity allows people to give honest feedback.
In conclusion, I maintain my argument that a company should 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, this should not be limited to just the employees, companies also need to be aware of posting content which could be deemed offensive and remain cautious whilst trying to promote an event or product.
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Reference
Allsopp, A. (2014). Watch Samsung’s terrible Apple-bashing anti-iPhone 6 ads. [online] Macworld UK. Available at: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/iphone/samsungs-latest-apple-bashing-ads-10-other-ads-that-mock-apple-3502961/ [Accessed 8 Dec. 2014].
Calderon, A. (2013). 19 Companies That Made Huge Social Media Fails. [online] BuzzFeed. Available at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/19-companies-that-made-huge-social-media-fails [Accessed 8 Dec. 2014].
TripAdvisorWatch: Hotel Reviews in Focus, (2014). TripAdvisorWatch: Hotel Reviews in Focus. [online] Available at: http://tripadvisorwatch.wordpress.com/ [Accessed 8 Dec. 2014].
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