Ethics in Social Media, #SAInvest

I participated in a webinar this morning through NASPA. It was about ethics and social media. It was refreshing because they talked about students and professionals, including examples and etiquette tips. It did not bash students, it did provide some interesting take aways.

Take Away 1

Context Collapse

“We mitigate ourselves in different ways as part of the human condition and there are different contexts in which we act and speak. Social media causes all of those contexts to collapse upon one another. All of those different contexts can see each other at once. Students have a difficult time understanding that.”

I like the way the speaker explained that we are different parts of ourselves in different areas of our lives. The way we act in church is different from the way we act in class, which is different from the way we act at home, around friends, around family, and at work. He called these the various contexts. When it comes to social media, all those different areas can see what we post, filters withstanding. So the cultural norms and rules of etiquette we follow in real life at all these different contexts do not exist and are not at play when we use social media. One post might be fine for one context and completely inappropriate for another, but all contexts see it. So there is tension.

Take Away 2

“We are all one tweet away from being fired.”

So true.  I think we need to be careful about what we put on social media, but I also think people should just be good people in general. If someone is scared of putting out hateful, racist, misogynistic remarks for fear of being fired, maybe they should really examine why they are so hate filled in the first place.

Take Away 3

“Our posts matter and we should have a social media presence, but oversharing is a problem.”

I like that the presenters suggest as professionals we should have a social media presence. We can be role models, we can be current, we can add to the creative process and share resources. Multiple reasons exist in support of us being on social media. However, I also like that the presenters gave examples of how we ourselves overshare and can do better about balancing our personal truths and the extent to which we share healthy behaviors. They provided an example of a professor who tweets often about wanting to lose weight or drop a couple of dress sizes. Instead the professor could tweet about finding a great lo-calorie recipe or a great place for hiking or walking to get exercise. The same sentiment of being health comes across without the tones of body shaming.

Take Away 4

“Social media did not create bad behavior, it just amplified it.”

So true! It also made it available for everyone to judge and comment on. 

I thought the presenters (pictured below), had great points. 

Do y'all see social media as an online place we can navigate ethically? In particularly when there are times when you are forced to participate in un-ethical  posts at no fault of your own because of the way social media works?