Media Ethics in Communication: Analyzing Responsibilities and Challenges

Apparently, communication is a decisive factor in the prevailing society where information technology has become prevalent and highly accessible to the people. In this regard, malicious as well as unpleasant information is shared through the internet of such social services accepted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) like Facebook. It, therefore, applies that the content might be substandard, wrong, and offensive.

Essentially, such information may cause tense within the nation or lead to the spread of rumours that may cause chaos. The contents shared through social media may deserve a critical follow up and evaluation to establish how people receive them and react. In this light, this paper will establish an argument to narrate whether the contents shared through social media expose the public to improper contents or misinformation.

Situation Definition

The subscribers of social media must be accountable for the outcomes of information posted. For instance, in a case involving the integrity and professionalism of practitioners on health ethics, an incident presented by Rochman (2011) showed how wrecked actions could lead to stringent reactions and discomfort to other people. This case involved a nursing student who had posted a picture of placenta on Facebook. The student was expelled from school in response to this mischievous behaviour.

Although the basis for expelling the students might be quite out of order since the students are in the learning fields without prior information to the case at hand, the ethical principles and personal judgment of individual involved are questionable. Why would the students use the placenta? Essentially, the placenta is removed after birth and should be disposed of shortly prior to successful delivery. This disposal is part of the patient care confidentiality that the nursing profession emphasizes on. The placenta came from someone who could file a case in court for exposing the confidentiality of his/her provisions.

In fact, the people experimental materials such as human bodies might not be provided to such disrespectful schools. In this light, the ethics of this case is detrimental in the nursing practices except at the consent of the provider. This example, alongside others like sharing of pornographic content, dead human bodies, terror activities, and spread of panic through rumours require attention. In essence, the media should avoid spreading of offensive content that may upset the public (Dickson & Eckman, 2008).

Social media like Facebook implemented by Mark Zuckerberg, improved access to information and developed social interaction considerably (Decarie, 2010). It performs diverse roles, including advertising and informing where people post current issues freely without the necessity of confirmation. In the recent tense about the Libya bombing, people were able to distribute threats and suspicious activities throughout the globe. Consequently, people understood conversely about the exact occurrences at the place of the bombing. It failed to restrict the release of crucial information meant for specified people.

This incident, therefore, created panic within the country and left other nations throughout the world questioning the government of UAE. It must be noted that Facebook is not liable for individual posts. The accuracy of the information posted on Facebook might be misleading. Therefore, the conciseness of information posted on this site relies on the posting party. A person can try to create fake Facebook accounts with similar appearances to confuse users and hack sites to post offensive contents. Another unexceptional weakness involves wastage of time. If students and children do not manage Facebook appropriately, it may consume their time and arrest the prioritized activities unethically.

Analysis

Irregularities identified under browsing of unidentified individuals are established and defined under the UAE communication databases (Benlamri, 2012). For instance, if a person uses Facebook to bully another individual, the government retrieves the records of all customers registered to use the internet (Lerner, 2011). Consequently, Facebook, in conjunction with the government, can assist each other to eradicate illegal activities.

Facebook users comply with the companies’ policies that disregard illegal and unethical activities. Furthermore, the terms and conditions indicate that the registered name must represent a real person (Kim & Choi, 2007). Therefore, the government allows the registration of customers to the website through Facebook account. This simplifies and affirms the process of signing up to an account for the right person.

Facebook privacy keeps the public confident when posting and serving through its channel. The privacy allows people to secure their contents and activities (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Customers are, therefore, confident when sharing through the website. They are aware that their private issues cannot be accessed illegally. Legal activities require companies to provide the exact requirements and services offered.

These policies are signed to ensure that a court of law can be involved in cases of dispute (Kirk, 2010). It is, therefore, promising when Facebook has a privacy policy to protect customers. In case a customer is offended by the companies, the legal and ethical necessities can isolate the mistakes and charge the party concerned. This makes Facebook trustworthy to the customers and boosts loyalty when operating and serving the customers appropriately (Baumann, 2012).

The fast and easy services allow customers to provide comments about how they perceive services in UAE. This facilitates modifications of their services and cautiousness when operating. It can be identified that Facebook plays a vital role in determining the needs of people within the nation (Voss, 2011). Other forums allow organizations to post questionnaires that can be answered by well-wishers through Facebook. Additionally, there are questions that Facebook creates to facilitate rating of business services. What if the support centre did not cater to customers conveniently? Individuals have been fired from jobs due to their disrespect on customers through call and Facebook support centres.

Decision

Social media has valid and practical implications for the development of media services in the UAE. They gather information from the public and other people to develop the business allowing abrupt response before customers are confused (Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009). Otherwise, if customers remain dissatisfied without any responsive measure towards the dissatisfaction, other businesses will join the market.

The suggestions allow the government to evaluate the mood of people and determine the best strategies of fixing issues in accordance with the suggestions. Attraction becomes evident when a need is addressed. Customers appreciate that their voice matters to business operations. Facebook facilitates this assessment at a fast rate and in a wide area. The media can manage to collect ideas from a million people in different countries.

Advancements of information technology are prevalent and bare throughout the globe (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). This growth has been facilitated significantly by social media. Facebook has dispersed well throughout the United Arab Emirates. It can be used to develop businesses and trigger other developments in information technology if legal and ethical attributes are placed properly. The growth of Facebook can assume a bigger dimension than the one experienced today. However, it is through determination and desires to test/apply ideas that these establishments become successful. Developers and other liberal-minded people should establish bases to allow prosperity in media expansion (Ayish & Rao, 2013)..

References

Ayish, M., & Rao, S. (2013). Explorations in Global Media Ethics. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Baumann, S. (2012). Cybercultures: cultures in cyberspace communities. Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Benlamri, R. (2012). Networked digital technologies 4th International Conference (NDT 2012, Dubai, UAE, April 24-26, 2012). Berlin: Springer.

Decarie, C. (2010). Facebook: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Communication Students. Business Communication Quarterly, 73(4), 449-452.

Dickson, M. A., & Eckman, M. (2008). Media Portrayal Of Voluntary Public Reporting About Corporate Social Responsibility Performance: Does Coverage Encourage Or Discourage Ethical Management? Journal of Business Ethics, 83(4), 725-743.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.

Kim, S. W., & Choi, C. J. (2007). Habits, Self-Control and Social Conventions: The Role of Global Media and Corporations. Journal of Business Ethics, 76(2), 147-154.

Kirk, H. (2010). How Social Media Are Changing The Face Of Business. Leader to Leader, 2010(57), 59-60.

Lerner, T. (2011). Friends in Online Places: Business and Social Media. Strategic Direction, 27(10), 19-22.

Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), 357-365.

Rochman, B. (2011). Nursing school says no way to placentas on Facebook. Time. Web.

Voss, C. (2011). Social-Media-Tipps Den Vertrieb. Sales Business, 20(9), 32-34.

Waters, R. D., Burnett, E., Lamm, A., & Lucas, J. (2009). Engaging stakeholders through social networking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook. Public Relations Review, 35(2), 102-106.

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StudyCorgi. 2020. "Media Ethics in Communication: Analyzing Responsibilities and Challenges." October 18, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/communication-and-media-ethics/.

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