YOU CAN OBSERVE A LOT FROM WATCHING—

-- YOGI BERRA

…you can also hear a lot by listening

Robert Berkman, Asst. Professor of Communication Studies, Keuka CollegeSMACS Symposium September 29 2011

The Ethics of Social Media Monitoring

What is Social Media Monitoring? Accessing (“Scraping”) publicly available

posts and comments in aggregate from Internet users on social media sites; e.g.

Facebook Twitter Blogs YouTube Consumer Review Sites Internet Discussion Boards Other

Why So Popular?

Authentic viewpoints Grassroots opinion Unprompted views Can be cheaper than surveys, focus

groups Consumers not “expecting” marketers

and researchers to be listening.

….and therein lies the rub…..

What do Net Users Know?

June 2010. Source: http://blog.vovici.com/blog/bid/28663/Consumer-Attitudes-towards-Social-Media-Market-Research-casrotech

How Does it Work?

Not Really A New Issue…

USENET

Bulletin Boards

Online Groups

Web Boards

ListServ Archives

2 Key Ethical Questions:

Are the Posts Public?—that’s OK. Or are they Private—that’s not OK.

Can Any Harm Be Done by Aggregating This Information?

The Matter of Private v Public

Private: From Latin privatus “set apart,” “belonging to oneself” (not to the state), used in contrast to publicus, communis.

Public: From Latin publicus. “pertaining to the people.” Meaning "open to all in the community" from 1540s

(Source: Online Etymology Dictionary)

So….on the Social Web…

Tweets, YouTube videos, blog posts Facebook Groups, Facebook “Pages”; consumer review site comments and Facebook Walls (if left open and public) ARE IN FACT PUBLIC…

AND IF WHEN DATA IS COLLECTED… Individuals are NOT Personally Identifiable

(Gathered in Aggregate)THEN…

Such Research Cannot be Categorized as “Unethical” That is:

It is not deceptive, does not invade personal privacy, nor does it cause any obvious harm*

HOWEVER!

* There are arguments that all marketing that categorizes people and uses data to sell products or services to a defined group is intrusive, annoying, and an anathema to a good public life, but that argument goes beyond the technique of using social media.

SMM Still Requires Guidelines and Codes Why?

Yes, the conversation is public—but meant for a certain audience; so when others listen in it may be:

Considered impolite/eavesdropping/feel intrusive

Consider the Danish term: intimsfære in Danish "personal space" or "private life” Not private nor public

Suggested SMM Code of Conduct No Deception

Pretending to be someone you are not Research in the guise of marketing

Do not use “walled garden” data (e.g. must join, register, go through other gates)

Take precautions against accidental exposure

Be extra careful with “sensitive” information Do not use quotations or other material that

could be traced back to an individual Be aware that people are more than their

narrow social media “footprint”

What’s Next? What’s Now?

Geo-location Market Research

Face Recognition Technologies

Public Video Chats? (eg Google+ Hangout) Will continually need to revisit

ethics and new technologies

When in Doubt…2 Basic Rules Golden Rule—How would you feel? Would you care if what you were doing

was published in tomorrow’s newspaper?

Thank You!

Robert Berkman

Asst. Professor, Communication Studies

Keuka College, Keuka Park, NY

Editor, The Information Advisor

Co-Author: Digital Dilemmas: Ethical Issues

for New Media Professionals (Blackwell)