**5. Ethics and social media**

Ethics can be loosely defined as "the right thing to do" or it can be described as the moral philosophy of an individual or group and usually reflects what the individual or group views as good or bad. It is how they classify particular situations by categorizing them as right or wrong. Ethics can also be used to refer to any classification or philosophy of moral values or principles that guides the actions of an individual or group [23]. Ethical values are intended to be guiding principles that if followed, could yield harmonious results and relationships. They seek to give answers to questions such as "How should I be living? How do I achieve the things that are deemed important such as knowledge and happiness or the acquisition of attractive things?" If one chooses happiness, the next question that needs to be answered is "Whose happiness should it be; my own happiness or the happiness of others?" In the domain of social media, some of the ethical questions that must be contemplated and ultimately answered are [24]:


As previously mentioned, users within the ages 8–15 represent one of the largest social media user groups. These young persons within the 8–15 age range are still learning how to interact with the people around them and are deciding on the moral values that they will embrace. These moral values will help to dictate how they will

**55**

*Social Media, Ethics and the Privacy Paradox DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90906*

**6. Why do people share?**

• cause related

as highlights of their lives. These are:

• personal connection to content

• to define who they are

• to inform and entertain

• to feel more involved in the world

will ultimately result in more shares, likes and followers.

interact with the world around them. The ethical values that guide our interactions are usually formulated from some moral principle taught to us by someone or a group of individuals including parents, guardians, religious groups, and teachers just to name a few. Many of the Gen Y's/"Digital Babies" are "newbies" yet are required to determine for themselves the level of responsibility they will display when using the varying social media platforms. This includes considering the impact a post will have on their lives and/or the lives of other persons. They must also understand that when they join a social media network, they are joining a community in which certain behavior must be exhibited. Such responsibility requires a

much greater level of maturity than can be expected from them at that age.

It is not uncommon for individuals to post even the smallest details of their lives from the moment they wake up to when they go to bed. They will openly share their location, what they eat at every meal or details about activities typically considered private and personal. They will also share likes and dislikes, thoughts and emotional states and for the most part this has become an accepted norm. Often times however, these shares do not only contain information about the person sharing but information about others as well. Many times, these details are shared on several social media platforms as individuals attempt to ensure that all persons within their social circle are kept updated on their activities. With this openness of sharing risks and challenges arise that are often not considered but can have serious impacts. The speed and scale with which social media creates information and makes it available—almost instantaneously—on a global scale, added to the fact that once something is posted there is really no way of truly removing it, should prompt individuals to think of the possible impact a post can have. Unfortunately, more often than not, posts are made without any thought of the far-reaching impact they can have on the lives of the person posting or others that may be implicated by the post.

According to Berger and Milkman [25] there are five (5) main reasons why users are compelled to share content online, whether it is every detail or what they deem

People generally share because they believe that what they are sharing is important. It is hoped that the shared content will be deemed important to others which

**Figure 1** below sums up the findings of Berger and Milkman [25] which shows that the main reason people feel the need to share content on the varying social media platform is that the content relates to what is deemed as worthy cause. 84% of respondents highlighted this as the primary motivation for sharing. Seventyeight percent said that they share because they feel a personal connection to the content while 69 and 68%, respectively said the content either made them feel more

### *Social Media, Ethics and the Privacy Paradox DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90906*

*Security and Privacy From a Legal, Ethical, and Technical Perspective*

cyber-crime.

issues [13].

**5. Ethics and social media**

contemplated and ultimately answered are [24]:

• Can this post be regarded as oversharing?

• What impact will this post have on others?

• Has the information in this post been distorted in anyway?

As previously mentioned, users within the ages 8–15 represent one of the largest social media user groups. These young persons within the 8–15 age range are still learning how to interact with the people around them and are deciding on the moral values that they will embrace. These moral values will help to dictate how they will

media to communicate to Generation Y's (Gen Y's), as teens and young adults are the largest user groups on these platforms [22]. However, according to Bolton et al. [22] Gen Y's use of social media, if left unabated and unmonitored will have longterm implications for privacy and engagement in civic activities as this continuous use is resulting in changes in behavior and social norms as well as increased levels of

Today social networks are becoming the platform of choice for hackers and other perpetrators of antisocial behavior. These media offer large volumes of data/ information ranging from an individual's date of birth, place of residence, place of work/business, to information about family and other personal activities. In many cases users unintentionally disclose information that can be both dangerous and inappropriate. Information regarding activities on social media can have far reaching negative implications for one's future. A few examples of situations which can, and have been affected are employment, visa acquisition, and college acceptance. Indiscriminate participation has also resulted in situations such identity theft and bank fraud just to list a few. Protecting privacy in today's networked society can be a great challenge. The digital revolution has indeed distorted our views of privacy, however, there should be clear distinctions between what should be seen by the general public and what should be limited to a selected group. One school of thought is that the only way to have privacy today is not to share information in these networked communities. However, achieving privacy and control over information flows and disclosure in networked communities is an ongoing process in an environment where contexts change quickly and are sometimes blurred. This requires intentional construction of systems that are designed to mitigate privacy

Ethics can be loosely defined as "the right thing to do" or it can be described as the moral philosophy of an individual or group and usually reflects what the individual or group views as good or bad. It is how they classify particular situations by categorizing them as right or wrong. Ethics can also be used to refer to any classification or philosophy of moral values or principles that guides the actions of an individual or group [23]. Ethical values are intended to be guiding principles that if followed, could yield harmonious results and relationships. They seek to give answers to questions such as "How should I be living? How do I achieve the things that are deemed important such as knowledge and happiness or the acquisition of attractive things?" If one chooses happiness, the next question that needs to be answered is "Whose happiness should it be; my own happiness or the happiness of others?" In the domain of social media, some of the ethical questions that must be

**54**

interact with the world around them. The ethical values that guide our interactions are usually formulated from some moral principle taught to us by someone or a group of individuals including parents, guardians, religious groups, and teachers just to name a few. Many of the Gen Y's/"Digital Babies" are "newbies" yet are required to determine for themselves the level of responsibility they will display when using the varying social media platforms. This includes considering the impact a post will have on their lives and/or the lives of other persons. They must also understand that when they join a social media network, they are joining a community in which certain behavior must be exhibited. Such responsibility requires a much greater level of maturity than can be expected from them at that age.

It is not uncommon for individuals to post even the smallest details of their lives from the moment they wake up to when they go to bed. They will openly share their location, what they eat at every meal or details about activities typically considered private and personal. They will also share likes and dislikes, thoughts and emotional states and for the most part this has become an accepted norm. Often times however, these shares do not only contain information about the person sharing but information about others as well. Many times, these details are shared on several social media platforms as individuals attempt to ensure that all persons within their social circle are kept updated on their activities. With this openness of sharing risks and challenges arise that are often not considered but can have serious impacts. The speed and scale with which social media creates information and makes it available—almost instantaneously—on a global scale, added to the fact that once something is posted there is really no way of truly removing it, should prompt individuals to think of the possible impact a post can have. Unfortunately, more often than not, posts are made without any thought of the far-reaching impact they can have on the lives of the person posting or others that may be implicated by the post.
