Social Networking Sites Taking Action

Isabel Eva Bohrer

November 28, 2011

https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/social-networking-sites-taking-action

 "Social Media Sites, To Arms!"  

First Impression:

Social media has been the subject of many controversies, crimes, and not to mention new ideas that can be either good or bad----but still, it's a good thing that the sites involved like Facebook is taking those matters into their hands, with many ideas and innovations that they guarantee will put certain issues especially unethical ones to rest.

Quote: 

"With – or better in – media where users are no longer passive, they must be empowered as part of the solution.."

Reflection Proper: 

Social media has been a major concern for years in this digital era, especially because of the privacy issues that have been causing controversy in the media, international-wise, time and time again. What with all the never-ending issues from "keeping underage kids from trying to sign up with a different age" to "epidemic cyberbullying", it seems like social media is going down the drain with the people, and so they are obliged to take action and assume ethical responsibility to stop these actions from happening. As I found out via the essay, all social media companies have a lot of ethical responsibilities, such as the following: protecting users' data and devices from fraud, theft, and all sorts of abuse-related deeds, providing tools for user privacy and safety protection via peer and customer-service notification (depending on the use of said service) and educating users on protecting themselves and each other from harm to their physical and psychological well-being, as well including their intellectual and physical property. Personally though, they should really give more action to these responsibilities, but the users as well should also give consideration to these responsibilities; the social media is not to blame exactly for issues like cyberbullying or privacy invasion, but the users involved in making them possible should take responsibility for their actions, as well as the victims who should learn their lesson and know why such issues happen to them in the first place. So, all in all though, even if Facebook or any social media is doing the best they can to protect us from such issues like privacy breaches, we should play our part as well, like doing simple things like retaining common sense and keeping certain information to ourselves, as well as using the social media's many safety resources correctly and responsively.

5 Things Learned From Article: 

1. I learned about social media sites taking action in response to related issues like security and privacy risks.

2. I learned about social media sites having a set of ethical responsibilities.

3. I learned about the importance of ethical responsibility on the Web.

4. I learned that users also must assume ethical responsibility online.

5. I learned that things like using common sense and maintaining oneself informed is key in assuming ethical responsibility and taking action for the greater good.

5 Integrative Questions:

1. What's your opinion on social media nowadays?

2. Do you use social media correctly and not in a careless manner like posting everything about yourself to the public including your personal information?

3. How do you feel about social media sites and ethical responsibilities involved?

4. What do you think about the thought of users playing their part in assuming ethical responsibility?

5. How does you tend to take action and assume ethical responsibility on issues linked to social media?