SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICAL ISSUES: ROLE OF A LIBRARIAN

ByJotham Milimo Wasike

Librarian-catholic University Of Eastern Africa

CALA Conference (22nd -26th ) July, Milele Beach Hotel-Mombasa City

Introduction

Social media is made up of two different words; media and social

It is socio-technical arrangement. Instrument of communication with a social aspect

Provides a forum for individuals to interact with each other.

Facilitates social relations amongst people/Some type of affiliation

It encompasses Blogs, Wikis, Social marks, Podcasting, Mash-up, YouTube, RSS.

Cont’d

 Makes the two-way communication possible, Become popular over the recent years

Statement of the Problem

Data reveals that 25 percent of social media users

cannot find the security settings provided by the social media website, leaving them at the mercy of default settings (Vander Veer, 2008).

Only 66 percent of users reported using the privacy settings to limit access to their profile (Lenhart and Madden, 2007)

Only 3 percent of social media users monitor their online use regularly(Madden, et al., 2007).

Cont’d

Studies of user behavior suggest that a significant minority of users are misinformed about how private their information truly is, because information that many users think is private can often be easily accessed by other users

Some not easy-to-understand choices (Flatow, 2008).

Cont’d

Information users are lulled into a false sense of security by the media who seek to profit from their information.

Commercial interests, and poor content Once user information has been entered into the

social media cycles, the user loses direct control over it.

Difficult to have information permanently expunged from the servers of these social media sites, and impossible to be certain that nobody else will copy or distribute the information themselves (Aspan, 2008).

Characteristics of the Social Media

Social media platforms and tools exhibit the following key characteristics: Enables web users to do more than just retrieve information. Enables users to execute applications straight from their browsers and they

can own and subsequently control data social media platform. Users are able to add value to the content they are accessing. Utilizes simple, user friendly and “lightweight” interfaces that do not require

specialist knowledge to apply; Social media tools are greatly decentralized with no centre of control or

gates. Is transparent and uses open technology standards that rapidly grow into

open ecosystems of loosely coupled applications built on open data and reusable

components Does not rely on fully predefined application structures. It recognizes the fact that real success comes from cooperation and not

control.

Social Media Policy Approaches

  Social media is used to facilitate governance

Regulate through a universal design (Inclusive and standards).   Turilli and Floridi (2009) propose three policy indications that can be undertaken by

librarians, users and policymakers to address specific social media technical ethical issues.

Social media developers should take in consideration new forms of media protocols e.g to limit to certain areas

Unstructured centralized architecture could be more effective than the standard one in controlling the overall levels of usage of bandwidth among the peers of a social media network.

There is need to raise the awareness of social media to information users and policymakers

Social Media in Kenya

The most popular social media in Kenya’s libraries is Facebook which is followed by Twitter, RSS, SlideShare, YouTube, Flicker and blogs in that order (Mutula, 2012).

While some libraries have social media accounts, most of them are dormant.

In some cases, the social media are not used for library purposes (Mutula, 2012).

The libraries use the social media Market library services Current awareness services; Wider access to information and knowledge; Dissemination of information;

Cont’d

Quick and ready access to information; Easy update of information and services Enhanced interactivity between users and

librarians; Facilitate seamless communication and

feedback Create an information-sharing culture; Create a library environment which is fun to

work and use; Encourage contribution , participation and

suggestions from users.

Social Media Ethical Issues

Include user identity, use and motive of use, privacy, surveillance, and user exploitation Some basic standards of ethical behavior Mechanisms of enforcing compliance remain weak. creative multilingual content and universal access to information and communication Policies to enhance ethical values in social media environments   Once information is out of the hands of the contributor, there is limited guarantee Protect other people’s rights and to enhance safety.   There are no explicit ways of ensuring only legitimate users register to use their platform.   Have no ways of verifying the integrity, honesty, reliability and accuracy of the information.. Do

not require email verification or identity authentication.   Some information collected without user’s consent Accuracy in doubt especially if the user has created a fake or anonymous profile.   Reveals several gaps that leave room for infringements on users’ legitimate rights  

Cont’d

No policy Ethical concern to librarians include: Compliance with policy provisions; Users involvement in policy making ethical processes; Enhanced government policy interventions; • Compensation when users’ rights are violated and guaranteed

prohibition of illegitimate access, Copying and alteration of users’ information. No mechanisms of verifying or authenticating email and identities of users Insane messages and abuses used. Conflicts of interest; espionage or fraud; privacy; and personal reputation damage. Facilitate deception, social grooming and the creation of

defamatory content

Use of Social Media in Scholarly Communication

SM is more interactive and user centered communication

Enables participatory creation and sharing of knowledge

User friendly tools Research can be presented in many formats

multimedia, including audio, broadcast, video and so on.

Helps in creating online Information Literacy programmes,

Customized information delivery, Online scholarly collaboration enhanced

Intellectual Property Rights

Exists rampant plagiarism. Promotion of open access and freedom of information Fair distribution and use of electronic information is in a

dilemma

Control of patrons use patterns of social media information is a toll order for libraries.

Libraries have adopted blind eyes to this aspect in terms of IP

Need constant sensitization of the need for proper use of IP works

Librarians ' Role in Social Media Management

 Integrate them into their outreach efforts to allow them to interact with their patrons in the new space(Young, 2008).

Be upto date and selective in content Work on information privacyLibrarians should educate the diverse information usersBe vigilant and work to overcome the limits of

content, western traditions and concentrate on customized and individualized social media information dissemination.

Evaluate, manage, organize, preserve, disseminate, use, and create social media information.  

 

Cont’d

Librarians should work towards develop in social media resources and services across boundaries

Licensing and authentication of usersProvide the best and fairest balance between

social media access and protection.Know individual user profiles,Well structured ethical policies Users encouraged to develop their sense of

ethics and then translate this reflection into action.

Librarians working in social media environment

Master of information age Understand power of SMUse and develop advanced social networks. Encourage user-driven metadata, user-

developed content, Understand the wisdom of crowds and the

emerging roles and impacts of the SMCurriculum inclusion of SM

Librarian 2.0 Skills

Concerns For Librarians

 Social media are not truly neutral spaces. They are

controlled spaces whose owners have a vested interest in promoting certain activities over others.

Social media sites are not static. They change rapidly. Collect and Track how information users use SMMust remain constantly informed about social media

changes. The immense outreach potential of online social media Librarians ought to make wise choices that serve both

their patrons and maintain their ethical standards.

Social Media Ethical challenges

 Kenya is more vulnerable to ethical social media

breach, because of Novelty; Low maturity of technological development; Diversity of cultural values and beliefs; and Policy structures (Mutula, 2012).Inability to verify and attribute information in

terms of how much information is too much? Censorship

Cont’d

Accountability, Social media literacy and ethics; Offer adequate resources for social

media practitioners including resources in multiple languages;

Bringing greater bibliographic order to the social media is an efficient and orderly means of archiving and retrieving information.

The Future is Inevitable

The librarian is poised to become part of the social media, acknowledging and even supporting many social media models.

Social media Integration with other business process systems

Information users will find libraries which will not have embraced Social media in the near future as insensitive, archaic, and largely unusable.

 

  Way Forward and Recommendations

Interrogate policies, strategies, plans and infrastructure concerns to adequately address adoption and use of emerging/newer social media

Improve infrastructure , bandwidth and power The socio-cultural, political, and economic

differences among citizens need to be considered Identify reliable tools that are likely to be of greatest

utility to facilitate access to those resources. Staff and user training Social media creators should incorporate into their

professional ethics aspects of social media policies that define the dos and don’ts;

Cont’d

Accuracy of information Authenticity through registration of usersLegal and political environment

accountability at all levels and by all persons.  Consortia Attract users’ involvement and

participation.

Conclusion

As libraries evolve , they must retain the best practices in Social media

Positively accept the challenge of social media innovation.

Librarians should not cease to be a growing organisms (mausoleum).

Ethical issues need urgent attention Librarians take an active role in developing

social media policies to govern the mediums.

END OF MY PRESENTATION

THANKS FOR LISTENING

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS