Ethics in Social Media.

  Social media is a collective online communications channels, websites and applications, through which users share content such as information, ideas and personal information.

Social media ethics is the fundamental concept of what is good, bad, right or wrong. Social media has a global reach hence people must interact with each other respectfully. It is agreeable that we all live by our own morals and have our own beliefs to what is write or wrong in life but when it comes to social media and online appearance, many people as well as companies believe that ethical behaviour is questionable. Due to the change in personal relationships and interactions, several people may feel that because they are hiding behind a computer screen and just typing the words instead of speaking them, it doesn't count as unethical behavior.

Some of the prominent social media platforms include: facebook, twitter, linkedIn, pinterest, reddit.



Social media is now becoming more and more legitimate in both business as well as personal life. The way in which a business or individual should professionally act in real life is being transferred into the online world. It is important to transfer our values and ethics into social media.

The principles of social media ethics are:

1. Transparency.
Transparency has to be sought in the digital world because it is something that is looked for in the professional world. Social media is all about creating relationships with your target audience, forming bonds, communities and creating a better understanding for each key target.
It is harmless being honest with your followers. in most cases, they will appreciate you even more if you do so. Failure to stay transparent risks losing all you have built and your reputation could even be irreplecably damaged.

2. Anonymity.
Anonymity and allowing people to comment anonymously on your website or blog is not consistent with your goal of transparency. Giving individuals the right to log on as anonymous can pose many problems for your business as well as for your audience.

People seem to feel as though they can say anything they want once they have that an anonymity power and although everybody has a right to privacy, allowing people to choose a user name rather than use their real name is private enough for public website.

3. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Sometimes people do things on social media that you may personally dislike, whether it be tweet without crediting you, selling your personal details to talemarketers or sending you promotional email once you have accepted them as a friend. Social media is all about relationship building so it would not seem ethical to treat your audience in a way that would make them feel used or annoyed.

4. Communication.
Valuable and mutual conversations get you noticed by other people. It is totally ethical to use social media sites to spread your messge that you believe other people will be interested in and will fulfill some needs of theirs.

5. Contribute something of value to others.
When it comes to content that you are sharing, you want it to be educational, valuable, compelling and you want it to make your readers want to share it with other people whom they know and trust. 
You want to write content that resonates with a large number of people, that the person reading your content can use to improve his or her business, is in the friendliest format, that fulfill the needs and wants of the people who read it and that is available to your readers at a time when they will be inclined to read it.


Conclusion.
Social media is great and we should definitely use it to the extent that we enjoy it and it benefits our practices. There is a need to develop and follow some standards and best practices for managing confidentiality and boundaries in the cyberworld.

Given the increase use of social media, it has become apparent to professional associations that we need to recognize and adhere to the set professional standards when using social media in our work.

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