Ethical Social Media Use.
Name
Course
Institution
Date
Ethical Social Media Use.
Over the years, social media has continuously revolutionized how people converse with each other. Most obviously, this has been due to its ability to make communication easier and considerably faster. People now find it possible to interact with friends and families all over the world and get both local and international news. The information has also been easier to see in social media while still acting as a source of entertainment. However, due to the evolution of both social media and technology, people have gone ahead to misuse it. Almost all of its users have been negatively affected by the problems that come along with it. They have either been or witnessed victims of immoral use of social media. Due to this fact, I can say that there are many significant problems with how we make use of social media.
One big problem with how I use social media is what I usually post on all my platforms. Most social media platforms like Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter, have sections which give every user the freedom to post whatever they wish. However, most users, I included, usually abuse this freedom to the extent of posting unpleasant things on them. (Türker & Altuntaş, 2014) These nasty things including but not limited to abuses, negative comments about other people, and even negative feelings towards someone or something. (Türker & Altuntaş, 2014) It is right to note that people have the freedom to express their thoughts, opinions, or even feelings about something, but this freedom ought not to be abused. One should be aware that there is a limit to what they feel or think about something.
Another problem with how I use social media is the time I usually spend it instead of investing in enhancing my face-to-face relationships. Just like with many social media users, the time that is spent in it usually unrestricted. Due to this, I typically face the challenge of starting and strengthening an actual face to face relationship since these platforms make you wrongly think that online connections can be compared to face to face relationships. However, according to many studies, people are using much of their time in social media doing something that is not quantifiable as relevant to their lives. Too much of everything is never good, and therefore, social media overuse has had a significant negative impact on their lives. Time is one precious thing that one cannot afford to invest in, only one element of communication and interaction while ignoring actual relationships of face-to-face. (Türker & Altuntaş, 2014) What if everyone who spends much of their time in social media like me reduced it to spend on essential issues that can positively impact their personal lives like interacting physically? The results can be tremendously appealing to both to me and everyone around me.
Moreover, another problem with how I use social media is how I make fake accounts posing to be a different person from who I am. First of all, although many people do it, including me, it is entirely unappealing to pretend to be someone you are. If it were in real life, it would be the same as impersonation. (Lunnay, et al., 2015) Also, since you are handling a profile that does not link whoever you are, the chances are high that you would make abusive advertisements, scam people around, and do all sorts of immoral things. However small this activity may seem, the problems that they pose are hazardous and detrimental to the moral fabric of the community.
As a social media user, I am not the only social media user who has problems with how I use my platforms. A lot of people use social media platforms unethically through immoral acts, and this translates to a negative effect on people’s wellbeing. (Lunnay, et al., 2015) However, I have a plan on how I can use social media ethically both for my benefit and for those around me. It is important to note that social media is not bad only that the way you use it can be used to tell whether it is good or bad. Due to this fact, making a plan on how to use it can be a significant step in ensuring proper social media use.
The very first step in my plan to ethically make use of social media is by building in me online etiquette. Online etiquette will restrict me to ensure that whatever I say is morally upright and does not in any way offend anyone. Another ritual that I can employ is to ensure that I only encourage those who practice the moral use of social media on all my social media platforms. You cannot be advocating ethical social media use when the majority of the people you follow are unethical in their social media usage. Unfollow the unethical ones and leave the moral ones. Through this, I will have made my very initial step in ensuring my wall is ethically clean.
Another strategy in my plan is investing more time in face-to-face relationships as opposed to social media relationships. One notable thing about social media is that it creates a false impression that the relationships made in it can replace the face-to-face ones. (Türker & Altuntaş, 2014) However, this is entirely untrue since there is a special bond with face-to-face relationships. Once you invest in the face-to-face relationships, you have the chance to start liking them and grow them more and thereby strengthen moral, social media use. By doing this, the time spent on social media will sharply reduce and thereby reducing immoral social media use.
As mentioned before, social media is one aspect of the current society that cannot be entirely dismissed to be wrong. However, what makes it worse is when you use it unethically to advance your selfish personal needs. The reason for this is that social media is used by many diverse groups that face different situations in their lives. Therefore one should not affect the other by their immoral activities.
References
DiStaso, M. W., & Bortree, D. S. (Eds.). (2014). Ethical practice of social media in public relations. Routledge.
Lehavot, K., Ben-Zeev, D., & Neville, R. E. (2012). Ethical considerations and social media: a case of suicidal postings on Facebook. Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 8(4), 341-346.
Lunnay, B., Borlagdan, J., McNaughton, D., & Ward, P. (2015). Ethical use of social media to facilitate qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 25(1), 99-109.
Türker, D., & Altuntaş, C. (2014). Analysis of unethical behaviors in social networks: An application in the medical sector. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, 1177-1186.