Why Social Media, such as Facebook Is Classified as a Public Communication - Assignment Example

Why social media, such as, Facebook is classified as a public communication Using the term public communication in social media means that such sites are public necessities and hence must be controlled by the government. Whereas social media is not as highly indispensable for survival as conventional utilities, such as, water, electricity, and natural gas, most people tend to believe that it is essential in the interconnected globe. It is absence would make the current life unsuccessful (Weber, 2010). Thus, many individuals perceive social media as capable of being categorized under utilities’ category, especially as a public utility. Nevertheless, some people do not believe that as true since social media is continuously changing and offering such platforms utility status would cause government control, which would in turn inhibit innovation. In fact in the past, debates have been held regarding whether these platforms should be considered as natural monopolies of public basic facilities and controlled as part of the public functions (Hermeking, 2005). Information on social media platforms should be considered public as it enables people to effectively participate in the 21st century individually. These platforms are attaining public function features, they should be well-controlled. Just like sewage, water, and power, people will never leave these social media platforms no matter what. Additionally, Weber (2010) points out that social media platform communication is perceived as public since it is largely used businesses, especially for marketing purposes. The government also views such platform communication as public as it uses it to pass information to the citizens who are also subscribers. Besides, the fact that many people have subscribed to such platforms makes them a public communication rather than private. This is because information posted is accessed by friends, even if the information is set to be private. One’s personal information, such as, names, sex, location, marital status, and occupation can be viewed by the public. Why shouldn’t you post anything you wouldn’t want your boss, future employer, to read? This is because information posted on social media platforms, such as, Facebook and twitter can be accessed by the public. These platforms are public means of communication even if they are set to be private. When people post comments online regarding their personal lives, work or business, the information is seen by a wide variety of people, some who could be prospect employers or bosses. The same information could be later used against an individual especially if it is viewed as negative. People also tend to learn a lot about one’s character through social media posts and comments; hence the information may determine one’s employment fate (Hermeking, 2005). As social media platforms become the modern branding strategy, job seeking technique, networking tool, and recruitment device, it is becoming the current way for individuals to receive job offers cancelled, fired or reprimanded. This is because there are many people who have lost their jobs due to way they comment on their job or badmouth their employers on social media (Weber, 2010). How Telstra’s policy provides protection for employees The policy is founded upon three values including respect, representation, and responsibility. In the policy, the firm sets out some of the ethical expectations for workers permitted to utilize social media for business reasons and for those unauthorized, but can employ social media for personal reasons and in the process mention the company. Ethics refers to the system of right principles. This may also imply the rules of conduct considered with respect to specific class, group, or culture. Whereas the firm clearly prohibits online conduct that could compromise the business or its partners, the three ethical aspects are essential. This is because the policy serves to protect both the workers and its image (Quinn-Allan, 2011). The first tenet of presentation is associated with transparency and disclosure. This requires the employees to always indicate their relationship with the firm whenever they comment on it. This also extends to the right use of sensitive or commercial and non-publicly accessible information regarding the firm. The firm also gives rights to employees to use social media. Nevertheless, it requires them to be responsible for their won social media usage and should ask for clarification and advice prior to posting anything in case they doubt the policy’s applicability (Quinn-Allan, 2011). Respect is associated with the legal issues including privacy, copyright, and relevant laws governing the posting of any online content. However, this tenet benefits the social contract binding social media employment and sustains communities. Therefore, the firm protects its employees through the policy that requires them to stick to the terms and conditions of use. The policy also requires them to conform to the behavioral and cultural norms of a given platform. In fact, these behavior standards are similar to both valid and invalid employees (Quinn-Allan, 2011). Why the policy should be grounded in ethics Firm managers should always create policies that are based on the ethics. This is because ethics helps protecting the firm’s assets. Workers that adhere to the company’s ethics tend to safeguard and respect the firm’s assets (Mergel, 2012). What is more, Collier (2010) asserts that basing policy on ethics is crucial in enhancing teamwork and productivity among the organization’s employees. This way, the workers’ values and those of the business are effectively aligned. In order to achieve this alignment, it is imperative to encourage a constant debate about the business values that enhance the integrity, community, and transparency among workers. Ethics makes workers to feel a strong connection between the business and individual values; hence teamwork and productivity. The policy should also be founded on ethics in order to enhance public image. Making ethical choices tend to earn businesses much respect and develop a positive public image. The public often considers such business to operate with integrity and honor whilst valuing people more than profits. This also boosts the firm’s profitability through a large customer base (Weber, 2009). Ethical considerations in business also facilitate a culture moral decision making. This also promotes transparency and accountability when making any business decisions. During critical moments, a good ethical culture helps in conflict management and making the appropriate decisions. This can also facilitate successful change management and sensitizes the staff on the right steps during crisis (Nuke, 2009). Importance of adhering to terms of use, and conforming to the cultural and behavioral norms of social media Terms and conditions of use are important in any social media platform. In Telstra, employees should always adhere to the terms of use in order to establish what the firm could and could not do with the content of the users, as well as its policies. This is also equivalent to a contract, which becomes a commitment signed willingly by the users (Maitland & Thomson, 2011). Besides, terms of use also implies that users are giving up their right to negotiate the terms. They are also giving up a substantial amount of regulation of their privacy. This way, users trust that the platform will not breach their societal norms in terms of acceptable privacy and change of rules. This is also necessary in guiding the users on the appropriate way of using the platforms as there are legal implications involved. Therefore, social media users in Telstra should abide by the terms of use of the platforms in order to avoid trouble (Al-Deen & Hendricks, 2012). What is more, it is imperative to conform to the cultural and behavioral norms when using a given social media platform. This is because social media is just like a public place that comprises of people from different cultural backgrounds (Maitland & Thomson, 2011). For a firm like Telstra, employees’ use of social media should consider cultural differences of the users as they are firm’s representatives. Lovett (2011) says that this also implies that whatever the employees post on Facebook or Tweeter paints a certain picture about the organizations. Social media usage can either build or destroy the company depending on how the employees handle the cultural and behavioral aspects of fellow users. This requires users to consider other people’s cultural and behavioral expectations whenever using social media (Baird, 2009). This involves issues, such as, beliefs, values, and language. They should ensure that whatever they post is socially acceptable and does not compromise other users’ cultural and behavioral standards. Respecting other people’s cultural and behavioral helps in boosting the company’s image; hence, high performance. Therefore, Telstra inclusion of the provision in the policy is highly indispensable (Maitland, A. & Thomson, 2011). 3Rs According to Quinn-Allan (2011), the 3 Rs in the Telstra’s policy requires that when employees use social media, they should be precise regarding who they are representing; and take responsibility of ascertaining that the information they are sharing and any references made to Telstra is accurate and correct, and conform to the confidentiality requirement. They also require that employees should demonstrate respect for social media communities and individuals that they interact with. Regarding the personal engagement of social media, the principle of representation requires that individuals should identify oneself as a Telstra contractors or employees in case they make references to Telstra, it products, services, business related organizations or individuals , and competitors. They should not also imply that they are permitted to speak on behalf of the company. Representation also states that employees should not intentionally use another worker or contractor of the firm, or a contractor or employee of the firm’s business competitor or partner including name or change of name. Additionally, the principle requires that users should be careful not to taint the company’s commercial interests or reputation. Moreover, Quinn-Allan (2011) states that users should reveal only publicly accessible information and avoid disclosing or commenting on confidential firm’s information, which include financial information, future performance, business plans, or impending departure of major executives. This also prohibits employees from using the company’s trademarks or logos in their social media postings. Regarding responsibility, the policy states that employees are accountable for the content of their online posts. Employees should ensure that the information they provide regarding the company services and products is factually accurate and well-informed. They should also be careful when offering their personal viewpoint on issues related to the firm, that their opinions and comments do not damage the firm or commercial interests (Quinn-Allan, 2011). Further, Quinn-Allan (2011) proposes that employees should always place a disclaimer in order to ensure that their stated opinions and views are taken as their own and not the company’s. This applies when they are referring to the firm’s work, when they comment on any telecommunications issue related to Telstra, or when providing a certain link on the firm’s website. This also necessitates the employees to employ a lasting disclaimer when regularly referring to the company or any related issues. Nevertheless, for irregular company references, they should utilize a disclaimer based on various cases at hand. It is also imperative to abide by the firm’s policy. They should reduce the personal usage of firm’s services, such as, internet, email, and instant messaging. It is also worth noting to avoid being the first ones to make any announcements of the firm, and posting defamatory, obscene, harassing, threatening, hateful, or discriminatory materials to an entity or a firm (Quinn-Allan, 2011). As regards respect, the firm requires employees to be respectful of all communities and individuals they interact with online, and be respectful and polite of other people’s views during debates and discussions. Adhering to terms of use of the specific platforms and conforming to their behavioral and cultural norms is of essence. Employees should also respect privacy, copyright, financial discourse and other applicable regulations when posting on the platforms. With reference to the aforementioned principles, the Telstra employee who had a counterfeit account of Stephen Conroy on Twitter committed a serious mistake (Quinn-Allan, 2011). As per the policy, representation principle requires Telstra employees to avoid using other people’s identities to post anything on social media without permission. This is because such an act is a criminal offence. This can also catch public attention and negatively affect the company’s image and reputation. Consequently, the company’s customer base and performance may drastically decline since competitors may take advantage of the situation. For instance, the Telstra employee made a mistake that, even though the real Stephen Conroy responded lightly, seriously affected the firm. The incident attracted unnecessary media attention focused on tensed relations between Telstra and the federal government due to tense negotiations on the National Broadband Network (Quinn-Allan, 2011). References Al-Deen, H.S. N. & Hendricks, J.A. (2012).Social Media: Usage and Impact. New York, NY: Lexington Books. Pp. 237-250. Baird, T. (2009). The Truth about Facebook - How to Use Facebook for Marketing and Advertising, and Much More - the Facts You Should Know. New York, NY: Lulu.com. Pp. 15-30. Collier, M (2010). Facebook and Twitter for seniors for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 229-250. Hermeking, M. (2005). Culture and Internet consumption: Contributions from Cross-cultural Marketing and Advertising Research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1). http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/hermeking.html Lovett, J. (2011). Social Media Metrics Secrets. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 1-30. Maitland, A. & Thomson, P. (2011). Future Work: How Businesses Can Adapt and Thrive In the New World of Work. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 94-100. Mergel, I. (2012). Social Media in the Public Sector: A Guide to Participation, Collaboration and Transparency in the Networked World. Inidianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 120-150. Nuke, R. (2009). Naked Truth behind Social Media: Facebook and Twitter Tactics That Still Work. New York, NY: eBooks. Pp. 1-20. Quinn-Allan, D. (2011). Telstra-the 3Rs of Social Media Engagement. Deakin University. Weber, S. (2009). Twitter Marketing: Promote Yourself and Your Business on Earth's Hottest Social Network. New York, NY: Stephen Weber. Pp. 10-40. Weber, S. (2010). Wired for Work: Get a Job Fast Using LinkedIn, Facebook, Or Twitter. New York, NY: Stephen Weber. Pp. 7-30. Read More