Hiding the Truth? Hiding the Truth? No one is going to publish their least attractive picture on their Facebook page, but how far should you go to create a positive impression? If your hips and legs are not your best features, is it unethical to stand behind your sexy car in your photo? If you have been to one event with someone very popular in your crowd, is it unethical to publish photos that imply you meet on a daily basis? Surely, there is no obligation to publish pictures of yourself at boring events with unpopular people just to balance the scale after posting photos in which you appear unrealistically attractive and overly popular. As long as all of this occurs on a Facebook or Twitter account that you use for personal relationships, it may not have any significant consequences. (Remember, though, that what goes around comes around.) However, consider social networking in the business arena. a. Suppose a river-rafting company starts a group on a social networking site to promote rafting trips. Graham, a 15-year-old high school student who has no relationship with the company but wants to appear more grown up than he is, posts a picture of a handsome 22-year-old male as a picture of himself. He also writes witty and clever comments on the site photos and claims to play the guitar and be an accomplished masseur. Are his actions unethical? Suppose someone decided to go on the rafting trip, partly influenced by Graham's postings, and was disappointed when he learned the truth about Graham. Would the rafting company have any responsibility to refund that person's fees? Bonus question: Would it make a difference if Graham was related to one of the company owners? b. Suppose you own and manage that same rafting company. Is it unethical for you to encourage your employees to write positive reviews about your company? Does your assessment change if you ask your employees to use an email address other than the one they have at work? c. Again, suppose you own and manage the rafting company and that you pay your 321 Hiding the Truth? they have at work? c. Again, suppose you own and manage the rafting company and that you pay your employees a bonus for every client they bring to a rafting trip. Without specifying any particular technique, you encourage your employees to be creative in how they obtain clients. One employee invites his Facebook friends to a party at which he shows photos of prior rafting trips. On the way back from the party, one of the friends is involved in an automobile accident and dies. His spouse sues your company. Should it be held accountable? Would it matter if you had known about the employee's party? Would it matter if you had not encouraged your employees to be creative? d. Suppose your rafting company has a website for customer reviews. In spite of your best efforts at camp cleanliness, on one trip (out of dozens) one of your staff members accidentally serves contaminated food, and everyone becomes ill with food poisoning. One of those clients writes a poor review because of that experience. Is it ethical for you to delete that review from your site? e. Assume that you have a professor who has written a popular textbook. You are upset with the grade you received in his class, so you write an extremely harsh review of that professor's book on Amazon.com. Are your actions ethical? f. Suppose you were at one time employed by the previously mentioned river rafting company and you were, you think undeservedly, terminated by the company. To get even, you use Facebook to spread rumours among your friends (many of whom are river guides) about the safety of the company's trips. Are your actions unethical? Are they illegal? Do you see any ethical distinctions between this situation and that in item (d)? g. Again, suppose that you were at one time employed by the previously mentioned rafting company and were undeservedly terminated. You notice that the company's owner does not have a Facebook account, so you create one for her. You have known her for many years and have dozens of photos of her, some of which were taken at parties and are unflattering and quite scandalous. You post those photos along with critical comments that she had made about clients or employees. Most of the comments were made when she was tired or frustrated, and they are hurtful, but they are also witty and humorous. You send friend invitations to people she knows including people mentioned in her biting 1 321 - Hiding the Truth? e. Assume mat you have a professor who was wien a popular texivox. 1ou are upset will the grade you received in his class, so you write an extremely harsh review of that professor's book on Amazon.com. Are your actions ethical? f. Suppose you were at one time employed by the previously mentioned river rafting company and you were, you think undeservedly, terminated by the company. To get even, you use Facebook to spread rumours among your friends (many of whom are river guides) about the safety of the company's trips. Are your actions unethical? Are they illegal? Do you see any ethical distinctions between this situation and that in item (d)? g. Again, suppose that you were at one time employed by the previously mentioned rafting company and were undeservedly terminated. You notice that the company's owner does not have a Facebook account, so you create one for her. You have known her for many years and have dozens of photos of her, some of which were taken at parties and are unflattering and quite scandalous. You post those photos along with critical comments that she had made about clients or employees. Most of the comments were made when she was tired or frustrated, and they are hurtful, but they are also witty and humorous. You send friend invitations to people she knows including people mentioned in her biting and critical remarks. Are your actions unethical? Discussion Questions 1. Read the situations in items (a) through (g), and answer the questions contained in each. 2. On the basis of your answers for Question 1, formulate ethical principles for creating or using social networks for business purposes. 3. On the basis of your answers for Question 1, formulate ethical principles for creating or using user-generated content for business purposes. 4. Summarize the risks that a business assumes when it chooses to sponsor user-generated content. 5. Summarize the risks that a business assumes when it uses social networks for business purposes. 321