MARK DAVE BAUTISTA ETHICS

3BSCE Prof. JOEL C. GANABAN, MA Ed.

REFLECTION PAPER ON SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

The use of social media is rapidly increasing, and the twenty-first century could be considered the
"boom" period for social networking. I've always thought of the internet as a place for free
expression, and, to summarize Stanford's Professor Jiajun Wu, it's also the quickest and most
convenient way to obtain information, making learning very cohesive. It never occurred to me that
unchecked online freedom of expression would become the root cause of unethical behavior on
social media. To also support that notion, the unethical use of social media has resulted in the
breach of individual privacy and impacts both physical and information security.

Just like in our daily life, we should be able to keep and prioritize online safety as it may entail the
following: (1) Physical safety, or the freedom from physical harm; (2) Psychological Safety, or the
freedom from harassment and exposure to potentially disturbing material; (3) for Legal, Identity,
Property, and Community safety, or the freedom from unwanted social, legal, and or theft of identity
and property. 

When one utilizes social media as a go-through or a breathing time on life, one may act without
conscious thinking, and may act irrational and do irrational things such as he/she may have had
unwarranted post or pictures or even comments to certain individuals that many may find wrong and
gravely bad, and that action has consequence, and can lead to severe repercussions.

Using social media means granting a specific application access to such privileges as location and
device monitoring, which is risky because certain individuals may know your specific location and
may do bad things to you, your family, or your assets simply by using that pre-shared location.
Additionally, by sharing photos or posts, you may give tremendous information unconsciously, and
that materials may end up anywhere, be altered, and can be used to identify you or your group that
is included in the picture. Consequently, these materials may also be used to bully or in terms of
social media “cyberbullying”. These actions are, by definition, unwarranted and should not be
tolerated because they cause the victim severe emotional distress or trauma, as the saying goes,
"words cut deeper than a knife."

The Internet has evolved at a tremendous speed to host a vast catalog of information and services
that can be used to improve societies. It serves many laudable purposes, including the
dissemination of open information, the democratization of knowledge, and the promotion of the
virtues inherent in free and open societies (freedom of speech, individual expression, the power of
association). The learning material also indicated that, similar to actions in your daily life, social
media has actions and potential consequences, whether good or bad. To enunciate, the open
Internet means many different things to different people, and we owe it to ourselves to protect it.