Ethics and Social Media

Ethics and Social Media

by Kevin Wolfe

Transparency in social media is one of the major areas of ethical concern in the subject.  As more and more companies move to online social media to try to connect with their publics and stakeholders, 

it is even more necessary to increase organizations’ transparency in the online communication.

When organizations ignore transparency in their online communication, it can create a lack 

of trust between the organization and publics. Companies such as Belkin have recently been caught writing fake reviews on amazon.com. Writing fake reviews or overly positive reviews for a company with 

which you have an affiliation, but without acknowledging the connection, is referred to as astroturfing. In Belkin’s case, the company released a statement saying the actions were not in accord with the company’s ethical standards and were being dealt with swiftly. Public relations professionals are taking a stand against astroturfing and the blatant lack of transparency by some organizations.

On the other end of the spectrum, companies such as Starbucks seem to understand the importance of transparency to the point that they list exactly who posts updates on their twitter page. An appropriate use of transparency helps to hold the company accountable to their message and to their relationship with the public.

Picture from http://www.mojaveinteractive.com/think/ethics-in-social-media.html