adolmandilone

[adolmandilone]

Social Media Ethics: What to do when you do not know?

The current state of social media ethics: what trends are happening in the industry?

The current state of social media ethics and trends that are happening in the industry are user privacy, which entails how social media companies share users' information to third parties and advertisers, AI generated content, misinformation, when people use AI content to spread misinformation on social media and in the web.

What are two current cases related to social media ethics?

Two currents cases related to social media ethics are social media addiction lawsuits in Georgia and New Oregon, and the Supreme Court deciding whether to give states more control over what social media platforms are allowed to show their citizens, which goes back to user privacy and the spread of misinformation.

Outline the current code of ethics for social media by a professional organization you would be interested in joining as part of their social media staff.

The current code of ethics for social media by a professional organization I would be interested in joining their social media staff would be The City of Providence and their current code of ethics for social media states the following:

Employees must see themselves as like a spokesperson for The City of Providence when it comes to social media, they must be careful of the content they post because it could be a reflection on the organization.

All information obtained by employees while working at the organization must be maintained private and not posted on social media.

The organization does not tolerate discriminatory remarks, acts or threats of violence or any type of harassment on employee's social media accounts.

What brands are utilizing proper social media ethical practices?

The brands that are utilizing proper social media ethical practices are The Rhode Island Foundation, the Department of Human Services, Bob’s Red Mill, and Spectrum Essentials (Spectrum Organics) because they are following proper ethical practices in their social media platforms. In their social medial platforms, the organizations focus on the work they do and what they provide to the public at large.

Are there any professionals that you feel practice strong ethical behavior on social media?

The professionals that I feel practice strong ethical behavior on social media are the actress Zoe Zaldana and the CEO of the USDA Brooke Rollins. Both their social media focuses more on their work and professional life.

What are some takeaways you can bring forth in your own practices?

Some of the takeaways I can bring to my own practices are to focus on the work and the mission of the organization. Never let my path be swayed by trends or unethical methods. Let me be guided by doing things the proper way, maybe it will be a slow climb, but I will do it with dignity and perseverance.

What main concepts do you think are necessary to adhere to for your own personal conduct online?

The main concepts I think are necessary to adhere to for my own personal conduct online are obviously to never misappropriate anything or any concept, to always give credit where credit is due, to never use manipulation to achieve a certain goal, to always lead with empathy and transparency, never enter the cycle of ignorance and narcissism, always be humble and respect each other even in our disagreement. I will always try to conduct myself with the outmost respect for all and always be willing to learn.

What main concepts do you feel strongly against and want to make sure you avoid on social media?

The main concepts that I feel strongly against and want to make sure I avoid on social media are ignorance, misappropriation, hurting someone else’s feeling intentionally, misrepresenting my character, monotony, spreading misinformation, and bullying. I feel strongly against these main concepts because I do not want to see anyone get hurt by what others say or post on social media. I wish that we could change those negative aspects of social media to a more positive experience. I am a firm believer of freedom of speech but not at the cost of hurting people.

List 5-10 core concepts that you will follow as a practicing social media professional. Include citations that you used

The core concepts that I will follow as a practicing social media professional are to always have respect for others and their differences, lead with empathy, be transparent with my audience, always cite and use ethical practices, always lead with honesty while respecting others, give credit to others when citing their work, always do my research before posting any content, do not spread any misinformation, focus on the purpose of having the social media not the narcissistic aspect of it meaning obsessing over followers instead of focusing on the purpose of the organization or business.

Citations:

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY. (2025). https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SOCIAL-MEDIA-POLICY.pdf. Retrieved January 1, 2025, from https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SOCIAL-MEDIA-POLICY.pdf

Social Media Addiction Lawsuit. (April 10, 2025) https://www.lawsuit-information-center.com/social-media-addiction-lawsuits.html.

US Supreme Court to hear landmark social media cases. (February 25, 2024) https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/tech/us-supreme-court-landmark-social-media-cases/index.html.

Social media for strategic communication: creative strategies and research-based applications, SAGE Publications, Inc, 2022

[adolmandilone]

Equity. Equality. Empathy. Is What the World Needs! 

When hearing the term “non-profit organization” I immediately think of a place that helps people in many ways.  A place that it is not for profit and its sole purpose is to help the community in any way it can. The words charity, equity, donations, diversity, grants, equality, scholarships all come to mind when thinking of a non-profit organization. I have seen from my own personal experience how much hard work and passion many of the workers and participants have for these foundations and it is remarkable how much they care about helping others.  

An organization that is trying to create a better world is the Rhode Island Community Foundation which is a non-profit foundation that helps the community at large in Rhode Island with grants, fellowships, scholarships, and donations. The Rhode Island Community Foundation has four major social media platforms a Facebook, an X account, a YouTube channel and a LinkedIn account.  

When looking at their Facebook page, the likes vary from 468, which was the highest, to 3 likes or reactions in other posts. The RI Foundation Facebook page has over 10K followers, which is very good for a non-profit organization. Most of their posts are about what they have awarded the participants or applicants, which is great motivation for those that want to apply. Their newest posts have been about how they are growing and partnering with other programs around the state. Their Facebook page has many posts about their achievements, how they have helped the community, but there is little information on how to qualify or apply to the foundation.  

Like all non-profits marketing and promotion is key because that is how you get the word out there, receive more funding, and donations, but with limited funding, it is hard to have a large promo campaign with a large PR team to back it up. To create more engagement on their Facebook page, I would suggest showing small clips of video of their volunteer work in the community. Try to follow and partner up with more community partners in Rhode Island. Create small videos of success stories and post them as a commercial on your page. Videos have been shown to have more engagement from social media users. I would suggest for them to increase their video content to help boost their video views (channel metrics). I would focus on their audience engagement (advanced metrics) because some of their posts had no engagement whatsoever. I would also look at profile visits and impressions on their page (basic metrics and channels metrics) so that they can have a better understanding of how much traffic and engagement is on their page.  

On their X account, they have over 9.6K followers and over 8.5K posts. Having over 9K followers on an X account is really good. The RI Foundation X account is very similar to their Facebook account in that there are little to no videos and more still pictures and posts. Again, their posts focus on all of what they have done, donated, helped, and partnerships with other programs in the state. Both the Facebook page and their X account have the same information. Their X account does not have many likes, ranging from 5 the max to zero on some posts. Although they may not have many likes, they do have many views on their posts ranging from 3.8K to 200 views. In this account they have some short videos in the video section.  

Again, for their X account I would suggest making more video content for more engagement as well. I would suggest looking at their engagement and influence (basic metrics) so that they have a better understanding of why people are watching their content but not putting likes. I would also suggest focusing on insights and clickthrough links (channel and behavioral metrics).  

Lastly, I looked at their YouTube channel and it had 186 subcribers and 5 videos uploaded. The YouTube channel had very little engagement with 60 the highest views and 11 the lowest views. The videos had little to no comments. The video had great content and looked great. Like I said before, what is needed is better promotion tactics to help get the word out there even though these non-profit organizations are trying their best with what they have, and I admire that so much.  

I would suggest that they work on their content reaction and response (advanced metrics), activity (basic metrics), and video view (channel metrics).  

Adolman Dilone

[adolmandilone]

Social Media

To me, social media is a group of social networks that allows people to express their personal opinions on different topics. There are many different definitions of what social media is. Social media has changed since I started using it. I saw the beginnings of it and how it flourished worldwide. I used social media as an interactive way to express my creativity while connecting with my community.  

When I started using social media, it was a way to stay connected with friends and colleagues in college. It was sort of what LinkedIn is today. In terms of Facebook and other platforms, it was only open to college students, but all of that changed once they made social media platforms available to everyone with internet access. Using apps on our phones has also made it easier for users to access social media platforms. I see the difference today where people join social media for different reasons, some do it to stay connected with old friendships, others do it because they can find discounts on items they want, some use it for their own business. I think it is great that people use social media for different reasons.  

I have also seen how advertising on social media has changed as well. Today, advertisement is a big part of social media, sometimes one cannot live without the other if you use your social media platform for your own business. I believe it is great that we can use social media for our business, art expression, or opinions. Today, social media is more interactive than when it first started, it is much more intuitive, and user friendly. 

As a social media user, I would define myself as a “keep in contact” social media user, meaning that I keep some social media to keep in contact with old friends. I like to use social media to stay connected in my community. I like to stay in contact with friends and acquaintances on social media. This allows me to still have contact with old friends and acquaintances without having to meet every single time I want to know how they are doing. In my understanding of social media, I consider my strengths to be media creation. I love to make even my basic statuses look fun, colorful and full of life. I enjoy expressing my creativity in different ways whether it is blogging, sharing my art, sharing my opinions on different topics that are important to me. I also like seeing other users share their opinions, arts, and overall knowledge. I love to learn, and social media allows me to learn different topics from different sources so that I can form my own opinion on a certain topic. 

My challenges in my understanding of social media are trying new types of social media, navigating their quirks and differences. This class will be a great help for navigating different types of social media in a safe space. What I want to get out of this class and beyond is to be more proficient in social media, feel comfortable using other different social media platforms, and expressing my creativity in other ways.  

Cited Sources: 

Freberg, Karen. Social Media for Strategic Communication. SAGE Publications, Inc. June 2021. https://reader2.yuzu.com/reader/books/9781071826881/epubcfi/6/18[%3Bvnd.vst.idref%3Ds9781071826867.i682]!/4