Ethical Use of Social Media
>Ethics of Social Media
As social media becomes a powerful portal of communication, expression, and entertainment, people are more vulnerable to exposure to privacies. More importantly, correlations are found between social media use and the rise of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression (Bounds). All of these issues lead to concerns regarding the ethical use of social media, including users’ privacy, proper use of users’ information, and the consequential effects on users’ mental and social health.
I)Data Mining and Misuse of Users' Data
According to Juicer, Social media mostly collect users’ information in five different ways: behavioral data collection(tracking users’ patterns of activities), engagement data collection (tracking users’ interactions with their social media and other platforms), personal data collection (users’ personal information about their identities), attitudinal data collection (Evaluation of users’ feelings and perceptions towards specific content and information), and social media preference data collection (tracking users’ preferences and beliefs). From browsing history, current location, contacts, and even financial information, social media platforms collect every single piece of information they can access online. These collected data are shared with third parties like advertisers, who pay a substantial amount of money to acquire access to them. In this way, third parties can more accurately target their potential customers, and social media sites make huge profits. There is no way to stop social media sites from tracking sensitive data other than to stop using them.
Perhaps, what raises most concerns is the risk of exposing users’ sensitive information to illegal third parties, such as scammers or fraudsters. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over $2.7 billion was lost from social media data breaches and scams since 2021. Among them, online shopping scams are the most reported, accounting for 44% of the number of loss reports, while fake investment-related scams share the greatest dollar loss, accounting for 53% of the total reported loss. Legitimate social media platforms do not protect their users from social media fraud. In fact, from 2018 to 2021, 50 million Facebook user accounts underwent attacks by security breaches; 130 high-profile accounts experienced a major hack on Twitter; and 700 million users on Linkedin suffered data breaches (Lindner). Users are susceptible to social media scammers regardless of which platform they use.
>Misuse of Users' Data
II)Social Media Dilemmas
While the First Amendment sets forth freedom of speech and expression, it does not apply to private companies, including social media companies like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Instances of social media “censoring” their content are not uncommon to see. According to GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), social media platforms, such as Instagram, are suppressing LGBTQ+ content, marking them as “sensitive content” that “may contain graphic or violent content”. Nevertheless, whether the censored contents are truly “sensitive” or have simply violated the individual values of the platform is debatable. After all, the notion of “sensitive content” is never clearly defined by social media platforms, resulting in potentially biased or unjustified censorship. This leads to the first ethical dilemma in social media — while censorship of social media platforms intends to secure the overall atmosphere and order of the platforms, it may lead to suppression of freedom of speech and expression when encountering various values.
Another common ethical dilemma in social media is the balance between user experience and privacy. The feature of facial recognition, for example, raised privacy concerns as it involves the collection of users’ biometric information (facial features) without explicit user consent. As a result, Facebook discontinued the feature in 2021, hoping to “provide(ing) a clear set of rules governing its use” before resuming it (meta). Indeed, despite the concerns regarding the technology, facial recognition holds particular values, including providing easier access to resume accounts, automatic alt text systems, and other potential functionalities that may enhance users’ experiences.
In the rise of these concerns, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) made an effort to balance the dilemma. Since 2018, GDPR has required all websites operating within the European Union(EU) or target EU to provide specific cookie policies informing users on their cookie usage and data collected. In this way, the data collection process undergoes legal consent from users. Nevertheless, as users are barely conscious when giving permissions to cookies, whether it is ethical to mass-mine users’ data for maximization of users’ experience is yet a hot topic in debates.
III) Mental Health Impacts
Estimated to daily occupy 145 minutes of the 4.9 billion population around the world, social media has tremendous impacts on the mentality and social life of the world’s new generation (Wong). An online study conducted on Chinese representatives during COVID-19 shows that 41.2% of the participants suffered from anxiety, depression, or both after frequent exposure to social networks (Zubair et al). An expert from Yale Medicine, Katella, attributes this link between social networking and mental symptoms to the overstimulation of social media on brains’ reward centers, which trigger pathways akin to addiction.
Furthermore, researchers found that social media platforms have become hotspots for cyberbullying, with 44% of all internet users in the U.S. reported experiencing online harassment in 2020 (Bounds). As cyberbullying is done mostly impulsively rather than premeditated (socialna), cyberbullying is more prevalent than traditional bullying. Through the internet, cyberbullies can spread their malice for a wider scope and longer time, at little cost and mild consequences. This pervasive reach and the lack of accountability amplify the suffering inflicted on victims, leading to increased levels of mental health crises.
>Social Media and Mental Health
IV) Social Media and Social Relationships and Community
Social media is undoubtedly enhancing the efficiency and convenience of communication, allowing individuals to transcend geographical boundaries and connect with family, friends, and communities around the world. Nevertheless, overreliance on social media may cause issues in interpersonal communications. A recent study of Professor Jean Twenge found that adolescents who spend the most time on social media tend to act poorer in face-to-face interactions, and they often suffer feelings of loneliness (Allen). That is, while social media provides networks to bring connection, it may also lead to a sense of isolation under excessive and improper usage.
>Social Media and Social Relationships and Community
Closure
As the dominating tool of communication and expression, social media has tremendous impacts on our lives, both positively and negatively. On one hand, social media grants the world easy access to boundaryless and unlimited connections and information. On the other hand, it mines our personal information every minute and second when using them. When used improperly and excessively, social media can also be toxic and leave severe psychological impacts on people. Therefore, social media is a double-edged sword, and we should be mindful when using it so we can protect ourselves from harassment, and make value out of social media to its fullest potential.
As I am a very introverted person, I rarely spend time with social media. , I spend only 30 minutes at maximum on texts or Instagram on average per day. Nor do I post or comment on anything online to show my personal life. Therefore, the only factor that may bother me as mentioned is the exposure of my data. Despite my reservedness online, social media is still able to track my information and sell it to third parties. This is evident when random unfamiliar numbers text me through messages in promoting their products.
Granted, for those who stay active online, it is always important to be aware of the ethical use of social media. Be respectful and kind, practice digital empathy, and be honest and authentic. In this way, can we shed a positive influence on social media, making social media an invaluable platform for creativity, thoughtfulness, and support. Meanwhile, it is also important to be mindful of our digital footprint, and to think before we post, so that we do not fall victim to malicious users online, and that we will not regret our words in the future.
>Ethical Use of Social Media
Documentation
https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/social-medias-impact-our-mental-health-and-tips-to-use-it-safely/2024/05
https://xiphcyber.com/articles/social-media-tracking
https://www.juicer.io/blog/your-social-media-data-what-s-collected-and-how-is-it-used
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/6-common-social-media-privacy-issues
https://www.fnbn.com/beware-these-social-media-scams-in-2024/
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/10/social-media-golden-goose-scammers
https://gitnux.org/social-media-hacking-statistics/
https://glaad.org/smsi/2024/lgbtq-content-suppression-case-study/
https://about.fb.com/news/2021/11/update-on-use-of-face-recognition/
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/social-media-teen-mental-health-a-parents-guide
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10129173/#:~:text=More%20than%2080%25%20of%20the,%2C%20and%2019.4%25%20had%20both.
https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/social-medias-impact-our-mental-health-and-tips-to-use-it-safely/2024/05
https://www.apa.org/members/content/social-media-research