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Social Media Ethics

AvSocial media is known for its various issues with legal issues and ethical issues. Companies like Facebook and Twitter being accused of sharing and selling data to other companies, as well as ordeals with misinformation. and issues like this are what make social networks a bigger issue than they would have been. Other social media websites promise to correct misinformation and follow a strict code of ethics for taking care of hateful posts, such and such. 

Netflix is a good example of a company that has been good about their ethics and legal issues. Throughout the pandemic and even now, they have been truthful about prices, listened to customer feedback, and have always been good about making sure passwords stay to only one person and not shared. Netflix has strict privacy laws (legal) that should be followed by most social media outings. I would not mind joining the Netflix team and helping to keep the website safe while also covering privacy issues. While speaking about ethical issues, Patagonia is a good example of a brand that cares about their appearance on social sites to set a good example. Patagonia donates 1% of their earnings to specific charities and other non-profits. They also focus their company on providing good service while also having the smallest impact possible on the environment. Patagonia is more of an environmentally ethical company, while also presenting themselves good on social media. I could take away a lot from Patagonia. They focus on environmental issues as well as legal and privacy issues. I could takeaway that more efficiency needs to be seen in the world, whether it be within the environment or within legal and social ethics issues. On their website, it states, “ We know that our business activity—from lighting stores to dyeing shirts—is part of the problem. We work steadily to change our business practices and share what we’ve learned. “ 

Conducting yourself online means you have to be careful about privacy and ethical laws. Creating a website or going online means you have to be transparent, communicate with others as well as making sure to communicate. Communication is a big issue with social media platforms and websites. Avoiding websites that aren’t credible and also not good on privacy rules is crucial when you go on the internet. Privacy issues are one of the biggest ethical issues when browsing as well as when you are running a website or platform .

Following a code when you are searching or involved in social media are important. This lists goes over it.

* Communication

* Transparency

* Privacy issues

 * Ethical production

 * Credible sources

https://www.nickwestergaard.com/5-tips-to-approaching-ethics-with-social-media/#:~:text=5%20Ethics%20Tips%20to%20Remember%20for%20Your%20Brand%E2%80%99s,Be%20Transparent%20...%205%205.%20Be%20Respectful%20 

 https://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-media-five-key-concepts-stacey-goodman 

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Jillian Mercer- Week 2

AVanity Metrics: Non-Profit

The nonprofit I chose is called West Place Animal Sanctuary. This nonprofit organization is an animal sanctuary. I used to intern here before I went to college. They rehab animals who are in need of assistance, and they give them the life that they have always wanted/needed. They are nonprofit but they do offer items such as eggs and have a small little gift shop so people can support their nonprofit and show the animals some love. The owner has been running West Place for a decade or two, and she has some serious experience with animals. They are popular, as I used to intern here. West Place holds free times to come and see the animals. The support in person and over social media is what allows the owner to run this nonprofit. The people and support make it all possible. 

West Place is on Facebook, Instagram, and a few other small platforms. Their social media sites are a little popular, with most people knowing them because they live near it or know the owner. It is not some big nonprofit that people choose to donate too or know because of the fad. On Instagram, West Place has around 2500 followers, and they do not follow a lot of people. They collect new followers every day and have grown since I interned there. They constantly have fundraisers posted on their account so people will donate in order for them to stay alive and in business. Aside from Instagram they also have some followers on Facebook. Instagram is more popular with the younger people than Facebook is, but Facebook is used for the older people who want to still support the nonprofit.  They post often and gain lots of likes. I would say that their vanity metric is good. They get revenue from their followers because people donate, and they are continually reaching other people through social media. They post most days in order to ensure that they do not lose popularity. Their Instagram vanity metric is better than any other social media because they have more followers and more interactions on most of their posts. 

West Place Animal Sanctuary could improve their vanity metrics by paying for Instagram to put their posts as an ad. They could use these ads to gain more popularity and in turn gain more followers. This nonprofit could also get involved with more news sources or headlines. With the good work they do for animals, they would have no trouble giving themselves a bigger name than just using Instagram. The stories of them saving baby cows and other animals that were going to a worse place would spread like wildfire. For Instagram West Place could use an ad or they could tag more people in order to get featured. For a behavioral metric, they could change the way that they post and what they say in order to reach the news more. West Place should also make a YouTube channel. They could use videos of themselves caring for the animals to reach more followers. They would pour in more revenue than they are right now if they gained followers on a YouTube channel. It would not be hard for a nonprofit to gain more money and more following. 

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Jillian Mercer- WEEK 1

1. How would you define social media?

I would define social media as a very important product of our society today. Social media is the means by which we interact with one another, whether it be on Snapchat, Instagram, etc. Social media is a huge platform that allows all of society to interact with one another. Most people today use social media to interact with others, follow lifestyles, entertain themselves, etc. Some people use social media to become an influencer, where they post things about their life for other people to see and hopefully follow as well. Influencers can even become rich off of social media if they successfully advertise to the right group of people. While social media and the platforms that come along with access to the media can be influential and positive, they can also have negative impacts on some people. Unfair standards, hate speech, false information, and trolls are scattered across forms of social media.

2. How would you characterize yourself as a social media user? 

I use social media only to watch. I do not post on social media or attempt to make an impact. I am more of a visual social media user. I like to listen to specific people talk and view some influencers and what they post. I am a silent user of social media. I normally do not try and exemplify myself on social media. I would rather not be known to people as much as others might be. I frequently use Instagram and look through photos. Some of my interests and hobbies, like cars, are what I look at through social media. Inspiration is one of the main things I look for on social media. I look for posts that motivate me, or speeches that give me the strength to do something I might not have otherwise done. Social media can be beneficial if you know how to use it. 

3. What do you consider to be your strengths in your understanding of social media? What are your challenges?

I would say that some of my strengths in my understanding of social media is how I understand it. Whether it be a news article online, a post on Instagram, or anything else that might go viral or be posted to the public, I often have an easy time reading or interpreting it. I’ve been a user of social media for a while now so I know how to navigate between the bad side and the good side that can actually be influential to someone. Being able to communicate through social media is important to us as a society because news gets around a lot quicker than it would if social media didn’t exist. This means that social media does tend to spread. The spreading of news that might not be real is what comes from this, which can make it hard for one to understand what is happening. Social media comes with a challenge for everybody. There are ways to look at social media and they could all be different. Social media isn’t bound to just Instagram, Snapchat, and apps. Online news sources, shows and television on the internet, google, the web, are all parts of social media. The sharing of information itself is social media. Being such a large communication platform, it can be hard to fully understand. 

4. What is it that YOU want to get out of this class and beyond (related to social media)?

I want to get a better understanding of the impact of social media on our lives and how we interact with one another. Social media can be useful and good to have, but it also comes with unrealistic standards and things that could hurt feelings and make people upset with themselves.