Ethics in Social Networking

When one thinks of social networking, they automatically think of online websites. However, social networking is also“ the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision” (whatissocialnetowrking.com). Social networking is most commonly known online although it is also possible in person, meaning in our everyday lives at work, school or in our communities. It is most popular online because millions of people around the world are online everyday looking to meet people, share knowledgeable information, search for jobs, market their businesses and so on. Social Networking can cause users to make both ethical and unethical decisions. There is no right or wrong when involved in social networking, what people do on their social networks determines whether their behavior can be categorized as either ethical or unethical.

Some ethical situations on social networks include awareness of non-profit foundations, amber alerts and public service announcements, building communities and strengthening relationships, breaking down of social barriers and so on. Firstly, most social networks such as Facebook and Twitter promote bringing people together for a good cause, whether it’s to raise money for cancer patients or people suffering from other diseases. These foundations are very successful and help to improve the well being of people.

Other than the fact that social networking brings people together for a good cause it also known for broadcasting amber alerts and public service announcements. For example: Whenever somebody is missing or a car is stolen or a public announcement needs to be made people automatically use social networks to get their message out as millions of people are connected and the message will be delivered as soon as possible.

Social Networking brings individuals together into groups. In other words, they build communities with similar interest and positive benefits. People come together from all over the world and share useful information and ideas that can help each other, and they build close relationships.

Social Networking can cause a person to break down social barriers, which then leads to fairness. When people communicate with each other through social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc, they don’t know for sure whom they are actually speaking to. For example: Suppose somebody is prejudiced against blacks, that person could be communicating with somebody who is black and not be aware but treat them as they would treat a non-black. This is what you call, fairness. It gives people a chance to realize that people are all the same no matter what feature they have.

Keeping what I wrote above in mind, it is the way people use social networking that makes it ethical or unethical. There are several unethical decisions that people can make while using a social network. These include: Invasion of privacy, Cyber Crime/Cyber