Topic 4 Reflection

This week’s topic revolved around ethics in social media and internet use itself. For a lot of students in this module, one of the things that came to mind was Justine Sacco’s tweet that gave her worldwide notoriety. This tweet gained traction across the internet for it being ludicrously racist. As a result, the whole internet criticized her for posting something so racist and called for her employer to fire her.

I read in Leah’s blog about how the event came to be, thanks a to TED talk video on that blog post. Justine only had 170 followers on Twitter at the time the tweet was posted. One of her followers leaked the tweet to a journalist who then spread it even further. In the space of ten days in December, Justine Sacco was googled over a million times. This example shows how quickly something can get around the web and that people who post things on social media need to be careful as one of their ‘followers’ or friends’ could leak your post you found to be funny, while the whole internet finds it offensive. Things on the internet can spread like a disease and before you can explain your racist post, you’re vilified by the whole world.

Tom‘s blog looked at the idea of ethically tracking personal data with companies. I did something similar to this, but Tom looked at how companies track what websites we visit and anonymise the searches so that it no longer ‘constitutes’ personal data. Even though it improves service, a company can look at my browser history without my consent. We both discussed how an employer can spy on their employee through the company bandwidth, which is something that needs to be thought about whoever is working in an office.

Word Count: 297

Blogs commented on:

https://tomburrellblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/ethics-of-tracking/comment-page-1/#comment-22

https://leahcowan.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/public-shaming/

Using and Posting on the Internet with Caution

As mentioned in previous posts, the amount of impact the internet has on our lives is enormous. Every little thing you do, be it a post or a something you search for, plays an important role in how you use the internet. This is because your employer can spy on you in many different ways. Your employer is capable of checking your searches within the company computer you are using and can perform monitor searches. These two things can be done through the company’s bandwidth, which is very unsettling to those working in an office now that they’re aware their employer is potentially spying on them.

Despite this being unethical, not using the internet carefully can potentially be very damaging. One case is Justine Sacco’s Tweet, which got Justine fired for posting a racist tweet without considering who could see the tweet. Another similar incident occurred when Sir John Sawer’s cover was blown because his wife posted family pictures on Facebook without changing any of the privacy settings. One thing led to another and all of London was able to see all the photos the former chief of MI6’s wife had posted onto Facebook.

Here is a video which shows an example of what happens when you don’t mark your posts as private and are not careful about what you post on the internet.

It is unethical how your employer can spy on you and look you up on google, but I believe it is necessary for the employers to make sure they know who they’re hiring and monitoring their progress in the office. Though its unfair that my employer can spy on what I’m searching while at work, but I shouldn’t be surfing through Facebook, I should be getting those required tasks done as soon as possible. Though it is a little bit harsh to argue against someone’s privacy, that same individual isn’t paid to come to work to surf Facebook.

Large Man Looking At Co-Worker With A Magnifying Glass — Image by © Images.com/Corbis

On the other hand, for people like Justine Sacco and Sir John Sawers to be subject to such scrutiny, they had it coming. Not so much John Sawers as it was his wife’s fault, but Justine Sacco should’ve never posted that Tweet as Tweets and status updates are so easily accessible by so many different people. By not making the most of your privacy settings and posting on social media with caution, incidents like the ones mentioned above can be avoided.

Word Count: 404

References:

How social media can ruin your career, video, KroesKontroltv, 15 March 2013. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CImhaCY1YP4 [Accessed 21 November 2015]

Litty, M. (2014) 6 Ways Your Employer Can Legally Spy on You, Recruiter. Available from: https://www.recruiter.com/i/6-ways-your-employer-can-legally-spy-on-you/ [Accessed 20 November 2015]

Ronson, J. (2015) How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life, The New York Times. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Magazine&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article&_r=3{Accessed 20 November 2015]

Sengupta, K. (2011) A spy in Speedos: Wife blows cover of MI6 chief on Facebook, The Independent. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/a-spy-in-speedos-wife-blows-cover-of-mi6-chief-on-facebook-1732759.html [Accessed 20 November 2015]

Siciliano, R. (2015) Be careful what You post in Social Media, LinkedIn. Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/careful-what-you-post-social-media-robert-siciliano [Accessed 21 November 2015]