SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Term media is derived from Medium, which means carrier or mode. Media denotes an item specifically designed to reach a large audience or viewers. The term was first used with the advent of newspapers and magazines. However, with the passage of time, the term broadened by the inventions of radio, TV, cinemas and Internet. Currently, media has become almost as necessary as other amenities of life like food and clothing. It is true that media is playing an extra-ordinary role in strengthening the society. Thus the basic objectives of media are (i) to inform, (ii) to educate, (iii) to entertain and (iv) to mould. The opinion of the people. It helps us to know current situation around the world. The media has a strong social and cultural impact upon society as well as it can play an effective role to bring positive change in the society. Because of its inherent ability to reach larger number of public, it is widely used to convey message to build public opinion and awareness.
Social media has a much wider reach beyond marketing and technology. Other implications are rarely discussed. There are rules of ethics and etiquette for social media that must be followed. Ethics, by definition, is the concept of what is good, bad, right and wrong. In social media, the right ethic equals the right perspective and the right thinking on how to leverage social media appropriately and how to engage people in the right manner.
Etiquette is a code of behavior within the context of our society. In social media, the right etiquette equals acting the right way. There definitely is a right way and a wrong way to use social media. Anyone who has ever been spammed (and that basically means everyone) understands this concept.It is very important to remember that whenever you connect with a social media network, you are joining a community. In any community, there is an appropriate time to discuss business. You need to be sure to treat the people in your community with respect and kindness. It is of utmost importance to respect the boundaries of others. Aggressive targeted marketing has no place in social media. Your motivation for being a part of the community is to give others the benefit of your experience and to build relationships with other members of your community.
The three main principles of social media ethics are:
You should always communicate in an honest and open manner. If you show others who you are and what you stand for truthfully, people will respect you and become fond of you. You will establish rapport. Truth is an ethical value that other people respect. They, in turn, will want to be truthful with you also. From the point of view of etiquette, you should always say who you are, mention your affiliations, and be clear about your intentions. That is proper behavior.
Transparency is essential, in business and in life. Ethically speaking, you should always share information that you feel will help others. It is a demonstration of good etiquette if you tell the truth, even if and when it is difficult.
Without communication, you have nothing. Valuable and mutual conversations get you noticed by other people. Even though your ultimate goal is to sell your products and/or services, you should never just promote your business, give your readers a hard sell or advertise blatantly. Social media is not the appropriate venue for this.
It is totally ethical to use social media sites to spread your message, a message that you believe other people will be interested in and will fulfill some need of theirs; however, you need to be very careful about your approach. Your main objective is to drive more traffic to your business through your website and blog.
You want to build relationships with others and you want them to trust you and to consider you an expert in your area. You want to be the person who comes to mind first when they have a question. Connecting with people through social media channels is not a short-term thing; it is the beginning of a great relationship that will hopefully endure for a very long time. We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein.
HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS INFLUENCING YOUR BEHAVIOR:
We all know that everyone is a product of their environment. Circumstantial life events, influences, and surroundings can further change our behavior. Social media already highly influences our shopping, relationships, and education. But how large of a role does networking through social media play into our lives? Maybe more than any of us realize. Although exceptions exist, research suggests that most social networks primarily support pre-existing social relations. For the most part, Facebook is used to maintain existing offline relationships or solidify offline connections, as opposed to meeting new people. These relationships may be weak ties, but typically there is some common offline element among individuals who friend one another, such as a shared class at school. This is one of the chief dimensions that differentiates social media from earlier forms of public communication such as newsgroups. Research in this vein has investigated how online interactions interface with offline ones. Facebook users engage in “searching” for people with whom they have an offline connection more than they “browse” for complete strangers to meet. While social networks are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to segregate themselves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society, even if that was not the intention of the developers.
People adopt unique personas for different social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, a team of researchers, including an Indian-origin researcher, have found. “Users tend to portray themselves differently in these different worlds,” said Dongwon Lee, associate professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US. Researchers theorized that these different personas stem from a desire to fit within the distinctive culture or etiquette of each site. For instance, a photo of someone’s colorful drink may be popular on Instagram, but the same image post to LinkedIn would be frowned upon. “The users tend to portray themselves differently in these different worlds,” Mr Lee explained.
HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS YOUR MENTAL HEALTH:
The rise of social media has meant that we as a global population are more connected than we have ever been in the history of time. However, our reliance on social media can have a detrimental effect on our mental health, with the average Brit checking their phone as much 28 times a day. While social media platforms can have their benefits, using them too frequently can make you feel increasingly unhappy and isolated in the long run. The constant barrage of perfectly filtered photos that appear on Instagram are bound to knock many people’s self-esteem, while obsessively checking your Twitter feed just before bed could be contributing towards poor quality of sleep.Here are six ways that social media could be negatively affecting your mental health without you even realizing.
Self-esteem
We all have our fair share of insecurities, some that we speak about openly and others that we prefer to keep to ourselves.However, comparing yourself to others on social media by stalking their aesthetically perfect Instagram photos or staying up to date with their relationship status on Facebook could do little to assuage your feelings of self-doubt. A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen found that many people suffer from “Facebook envy”, with those who abstained from using the popular site reporting that they felt more satisfied with their lives. “When we derive a sense of worth based on how we are doing relative to others, we place our happiness in a variable that is completely beyond our control,” Dr Tim Bono, author of When Likes Aren’t Enough explained in Healthista. Becoming more conscious of the amount of time you spend scrolling through other people’s online profiles could help you focus more on yourself and boost your self-confidence.
Human connection
As human beings, it’s so important for us to be able to communicate and forge personal connections with one another. However, it can be hard to do so when we’re glued to rectangular screens, becoming more acquainted with our friends’ digital facades than their real-life personas. Stina Sanders, a former model who has 107,000 followers on Instagram, explained how social media sometimes makes her feel like she’s being left out. “I know from my experience I can get FOMO when I see my friend’s photos of a party I didn’t go to, and this, in turn, can make me feel quite lonely and anxious,” she told The Independent. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that assessed 5,208 subjects found that overall, regular use of Facebook had a negative impact on an individual’s well-being.
