Small Business Social Media Ethics

One out of hundreds of benefits we get from the internet is that we now have limitless access to information that we need either about history or real-time news and happenings.  However, despite that no one could 100% police what we share, we are still held responsible on whatever we post and share hence we should always be mindful of our social media ethics.

As an avid user of internet I have included here few of the things that i see important to practice everytime; sort of simple code of ethics in using the web that should be practiced not only by individuals but also companies who uses social media. Let’s start with the simplest one which is Respect. As we go through the internet we should always put in mind that we are entering a virtual community that is diverse who has different norms, beliefs and nationality. We should be mindful of what we post and comment as this could be taken against us later on. Yes the internet is free- zone, limitless and gave us the privilege to share our thoughts which we should not abuse.  One example of this is using photos other internet users; these photos are somewhat copyrighted unless otherwise stated free or allowed for public use.  We could not just grab them and use them as as company logo nor banner of any sorts.

Second principle I practice is integrity; integrity coincides with credibility. This is a key in building relationships to the virtual communities, we should always need to make sure that we post what is true just so we won’t mislead our page’s followers/supporters.  If you are a company who uses social media to promote your products and services, then you should practice integrity with transparency. You have to be transparent on the the true value/ condition of what you offer by presenting the information completely and accurately. By doing so, would would help prevent possible issues to arise either grave or small.  Lastly, since I’m making this article short I am cutting the principles down to three. I deem independence as the third important principle to practice when managing a page.  As mentioned at the early part of this article, we are privileged to use the internet with freedom but shouldn’t be abused. We should first question ourselves few simple things before postings such as;

- Is this important?

-How should I post it?

-When and where should I post it?

-What will be the impact of this post?

We need learn as to when we need to post our thoughts and when not.

Entrepreneurs and advertisers need to apply these set of guidelines in their daily business operations in order to smoothly manage their social media pages. We should always be reminded that we are accountable and responsible on whatever we post publicly as this could be the reflection of your company that could be passed from one person to another in just one click. 

Roderick Hunnicutt

Socratic SBC | Small Business Consulting

2 Wisconsin Circle Suite 700 Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Office: (410) 344-7874

Fax: (202) 318-0689 

rwhunni@socraticsbc.com

www.socraticsbc.com