Ethics and Social Media

Look up Ethics and Social Media and you will get a variety of approaches depending on the industry or discipline that is being focussed on. There are many rule of thumb suggestions and even more on ethics in PR and Marketing.
In September I have been asked by The Upstate History Alliance to facilitate a conversation on the implications of ethics and social media. When thinking about this discussion, there are a host of possible topics and directions we can go in.
For example:

• Simple rules of thumb about the pitfalls of posting inappropriate material on your Facebook page.
• Perils of friending your boss.
• Your personal vs. your professional persona or brand as it relates to social media applications such as twitter, Linked In or Facebook.
• What are the implications of having an immense amount of personal information living on line for an almost infinate period of time.
• Who owns your work and can your institution enforce rules about your online behavior.
• Can I check facebook at work.

So these are just a few of the things I have begun to think about. But this conversation should revolve around your questions. I am sure we could all sit around, make smores, and tell horror stories or offer opinions on things we already have a handle on, but what I would like to task you with is taking a look at a few blogs I have gathered, read through, and then take a look at various museum friends that you have on Facebook. (If you are not on Facebook please join and send me a message. If you want to see inappropriate behavior I am an excellent source!) Also just look up museum blogs on google and spend some time reading. See if there are people who are writing not from the standpoint of an institution, and notice if their work world and blog world seem intertwined.
Then I would like you to dial up this blog again and post issues you don't have answers to. Questions you need answers to, or personal choices you are having difficulty reconciling. If someone posts the same question as you already have, that is fine. Knowing that many people have the same questions is a big help to me in helping to guide the discussion.
Try and post at least 24 hours before we chat, and I'll bring the marshmallows!

Ethics and Social Media

As social media adoption increases, do ethics get left at the doorstep?
The Many Voices of Social Media

Museum Ethics from AAM