Example of Ethical Study Cases About Social Media

Open access peer-reviewed chapter

Social Media, Ethics and the Privacy Paradox

Submitted: September 11th, 2019 Reviewed: December 19th, 2019 Published: February 5th, 2020

DOI: ten.5772/intechopen.90906

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Today'due south information/digital age offers widespread use of social media. The utilize of social media is ubiquitous and cuts across all age groups, social classes and cultures. However, the increased use of these media is accompanied past privacy issues and ethical concerns. These privacy issues can accept far-reaching professional, personal and security implications. Ultimate privacy in the social media domain is very difficult because these media are designed for sharing information. Participating in social media requires persons to ignore some personal, privacy constraints resulting in some vulnerability. The weak individual privacy safeguards in this space take resulted in unethical and undesirable behaviors resulting in privacy and security breaches, especially for the virtually vulnerable group of users. An exploratory report was conducted to examine social media usage and the implications for personal privacy. We investigated how some of the requirements for participating in social media and how unethical apply of social media can bear on users' privacy. Results indicate that if users of these networks pay attention to privacy settings and the blazon of information shared and adhere to universal, fundamental, moral values such equally mutual respect and kindness, many privacy and unethical issues can be avoided.

Keywords

• privacy
• ethics
• social media

• Nadine Barrett-Maitland*

  • University of Technology, Jamaica, West Indies

• Jenice Lynch

  • University of Technology, Jamaica, West Indies

*Address all correspondence to: nadinemland@yahoo.com

ane. Introduction

The use of social media is growing at a rapid stride and the twenty-first century could be described as the "boom" menstruation for social networking. According to reports provided by Smart Insights, every bit at February 2019 there were over three.484 billion social media users. The Smart Insight report indicates that the number of social media users is growing by ix% annually and this tendency is estimated to continue. Before long the number of social media users represents 45% of the global population [1]. The heaviest users of social media are "digital natives"; the group of persons who were built-in or who take grown upwardly in the digital era and are intimate with the various technologies and systems, and the "Millennial Generation"; those who became adults at the turn of the 20-first century. These groups of users employ social media platforms for simply about anything ranging from marketing, news conquering, teaching, health care, civic engagement, and politicking to social engagement.

The unethical employ of social media has resulted in the breach of individual privacy and impacts both physical and information security. Reports in 2019 [1], reveal that persons between the ages viii and eleven years spend an average 13.v hours weekly online and 18% of this historic period group are actively engaged on social media. Those between ages 12 and 15 spend on average 20.v hours online and 69% of this grouping are agile social media users. While children and teenagers stand for the largest Internet user groups, for the most office they do not know how to protect their personal information on the Web and are the most vulnerable to cyber-crimes related to breaches of information privacy [2, 3].

In today'southward Information technology-configured society data is one of, if non the most, valuable asset for most businesses/organizations. Organizations and governments collect information via several ways including invisible data gathering, marketing platforms and search engines such as Google [4]. Information tin can be attained from several sources, which can exist fused using engineering science to develop complete profiles of individuals. The information on social media is very accessible and can be of great value to individuals and organizations for reasons such as marketing, etc.; hence, data is retained by most companies for future use.

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2. Privacy

Privacy or the right to bask freedom from unauthorized intrusion is the negative correct of all human beings. Privacy is defined every bit the right to be left alone, to be complimentary from hole-and-corner surveillance, or unwanted disclosure of personal data or information by government, corporation, or private (lexicon.com). In this chapter we will ascertain privacy loosely, every bit the right to command access to personal information. Supporters of privacy posit that it is a necessity for human being nobility and individuality and a primal element in the quest for happiness. According to Baase [5] in the book titled "A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet," privacy is the ability to control information nearly one' s self besides every bit the freedom from surveillance from existence followed, tracked, watched, and being eavesdropped on. In this regard, ignoring privacy rights often leads to encroachment on natural rights.

Privacy, or even the thought that i has this right, leads to peace of mind and can provide an environment of solitude. This confinement tin allow people to breathe freely in a space that is free from interference and intrusion. According to Richards and Solove [six], Legal scholar William Prosser argued that privacy cases tin be classified into four related "torts," namely:

1. Intrusion—this can be viewed as encroachment (physical or otherwise) on ones liberties/solitude in a highly offensive fashion.

2. Privacy facts—making public, private information about someone that is of no "legitimate concern" to anyone.

3. Imitation lite—making public faux and "highly offensive" information about others.

4. Appropriation—stealing someone's identity (name, likeness) to gain advantage without the permission of the individual.

Technology, the digital age, the Internet and social media have redefined privacy all the same every bit surveillance is no longer limited to a certain pre-defined space and location. An understanding of the issues and dangers of privacy in the digital space is therefore the first stride to privacy command. While at that place tin can be articulate distinctions between informational privacy and physical privacy, every bit pointed out before, intrusion can exist both physical and otherwise.

This chapter volition focus on informational privacy which is the ability to control access to personal information. We examine privacy bug in the social media context focusing primarily on personal information and the power to command external influences. We suggest that alienation of advisory privacy tin can impact: confinement (the right to be left alone), intimacy (the correct not to exist monitored), and anonymity (the correct to take no public personal identity and past extension physical privacy impacted). The right to control access to facts or personal information in our view is a natural, inalienable right and everyone should accept control over who run across their personal information and how it is disseminated.

In May 2019 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) clearly outlined that information technology is unlawful to process personal data without the consent of the individual (subject). It is a legal requirement under the GDPR that privacy notices be given to individuals that outline how their personal information will be processed and the weather condition that must be met that make the consent valid. These are:

1. "Freely given—an individual must be given a genuine choice when providing consent and it should mostly be unbundled from other terms and weather condition (e.g., admission to a service should not be conditional upon consent being given)."

2. "Specific and informed—this means that data subjects should be provided with information equally to the identity of the controller(s), the specific purposes, types of processing, equally well as being informed of their right to withdraw consent at whatsoever time."

3. "Explicit and unambiguous—the data subject must clearly express their consent (e.g., past actively ticking a box which confirms they are giving consent—pre-ticked boxes are bereft)."

4. "Under 13s—children under the historic period of 13 cannot provide consent and it is therefore necessary to obtain consent from their parents."

Arguments tin can be made that privacy is a cultural, universal necessity for harmonious relationships among human beings and creates the boundaries for date and disengagement. Privacy can also be viewed equally instrumental skilful because information technology is a requirement for the development of sure kinds of man relationships, intimacy and trust [7]. However, achieving privacy is much more difficult in low-cal of constant surveillance and the disability to determine the levels of interaction with various publics [vii]. Some critics argue that privacy provides protection against anti-social behaviors such as trickery, disinformation and fraud, and is idea to exist a universal right [5]. Even so, privacy tin also be viewed as relative as privacy rules may differ based on several factors such every bit "climate, religion, technological advancement and political arrangements" [8, 9]. The need for privacy is an objective reality though it tin be viewed as "culturally rational" where the need for personal privacy is viewed as relative based on civilisation. One example is the push past the authorities, businesses and Singaporeans to make Singapore a smart nation. Co-ordinate to GovTech 2018 reports there is a button by the government in Singapore to harness the data "new gilded" to develop systems that can make life easier for its people. The [10] study points out that Singapore is using sensors robots Smart Water Cess Network (SWAN) to monitor water quality in its reservoirs, seeking to build smart health system and to build a smart transportation system to name a few. In this case privacy can be describe as "culturally rational" and the rules in general could differ based on technological advancement and political arrangements.

In today's networked club it is naïve and ill-conceived to think that privacy is over-rated and there is no demand to be concerned about privacy if yous take done zero wrong [five]. The effects of information period can exist complex and may non be simply most protection for people who have something to hide. Inaccurate information catamenia can have adverse long-term implications for individuals and companies. Consider a scenario where someone's computer or tablet is stolen. The perpetrator uses identification information stored on the device to access their social media page which could pb to access to their contacts, friends and friends of their "friends" then participate in illegal activities and appoint in anti-social activities such as hacking, spreading viruses, fraud and identity theft. The victim is now in danger of being accused of criminal intentions, or worse. These kinds of situations are possible because of technology and networked systems. Users of social media need to be aware of the risks that are associated with participation.

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3. Social media

The concept of social networking pre-dates the Cyberspace and mass communication as people are said to exist social creatures who when working in groups can attain results in a value greater than the sun of its parts [xi]. The explosive growth in the use of social media over the past decade has made it one of the nearly popular Net services in the world, providing new avenues to "see and exist seen" [12, 13]. The use of social media has changed the advice mural resulting in changes in ethical norms and behavior. The unprecedented level of growth in usage has resulted in the reduction in the use of other media and changes in areas including civic and political engagement, privacy and safety [14]. Alexa, a company that keeps track of traffic on the Web, indicates that equally of Baronial, 2019 YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are amid the top four (4) most visited sites with only Google, being the near pop search engine, surpassing these social media sites.

Social media sites can exist described every bit online services that allow users to create profiles which are "public, semi-public" or both. Users may create individual profiles and/or become a office of a grouping of people with whom they may be acquainted offline [xv]. They also provide avenues to create virtual friendships. Through these virtual friendships, people may access details nearly their contacts ranging from personal background information and interests to location. Social networking sites provide various tools to facilitate communication. These include conversation rooms, blogs, private messages, public comments, means of uploading content external to the site and sharing videos and photographs. Social media is therefore drastically changing the way people communicate and course relationships.

Today social media has proven to be one of the nearly, if not the nigh constructive medium for the broadcasting of data to diverse audiences. The power of this medium is phenomenal and ranges from its ability to overturn governments (e.grand., Moldova), to mobilize protests, assist with getting back up for humanitarian assist, organize political campaigns, organize groups to delay the passing of legislation (as in the case with the copyright bill in Canada) to making social media billionaires and millionaires [16, 17]. The enabling nature and the structure of the media that social networking offers provide a wide range of opportunities that were nonexistent before technology. Facebook and YouTube marketers and trainers provide ii examples. Today people can interact with and acquire from people millions of miles away. The global attain of this medium has removed all former pre-defined boundaries including geographical, social and any other that existed previously. Technological advancements such as Web 2.0 and Spider web iv.0 which provide the framework for collaboration, have given new meaning to life from diverse perspectives: political, institutional and social.

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4. Privacy and social media

Social medial and the data/digital era have "redefined" privacy. In today's Information Technology—configured societies, where there is continuous monitoring, privacy has taken on a new meaning. Technologies such as closed-circuit cameras (CCTV) are prevalent in public spaces or in some individual spaces including our piece of work and dwelling house [7, 18]. Personal computers and devices such as our smart phones enabled with Global Positioning Arrangement (GPS), Geo locations and Geo maps connected to these devices make privacy as we know it, a thing of the past. Recent reports indicate that some of the largest companies such every bit Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook as well equally diverse regime agencies are collecting information without consent and storing it in databases for time to come employ. It is almost impossible to say privacy exists in this digital globe (@nowthisnews).

The open nature of the social networking sites and the avenues they provide for sharing data in a "public or semi-public" space create privacy concerns by their very construct. Data that is inappropriate for some audiences are many times inadvertently made visible to groups other than those intended and tin sometimes result in futurity negative outcomes. One such case is a well-known example recorded in an commodity entitled "The Web Means the Stop of Forgetting" that involved a young woman who was denied her higher license because of backlash from photographs posted on social media in her private engagement.

Technology has reduced the gap between professional person and personal spaces and ofttimes results in information exposure to the wrong audience [19]. The reduction in the separation of professional and personal spaces can affect image management especially in a professional setting resulting in the erosion of traditional professional image and impression management. Determining the secondary use of personal data and those who accept admission to this information should exist the prerogative of the individual or group to whom the information belongs. However, engaging in social media activities has removed this control.

Privacy on social networking sites (SNSs) is heavily dependent on the users of these networks because sharing information is the primary style of participating in social communities. Privacy in SNSs is "multifaceted." Users of these platforms are responsible for protecting their information from third-party information collection and managing their personal profiles. However, participants are unremarkably more willing to give personal and more individual information in SNSs than anywhere else on the Internet. This can be attributed to the feeling of community, condolement and family that these media provide for the most part. Privacy controls are not the priority of social networking site designers and only a small number of the immature adolescent users alter the default privacy settings of their accounts [20, 21]. This opens the door for breaches peculiarly amid the most vulnerable user groups, namely young children, teenagers and the elderly. The nature of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms cause users to re-evaluate and often modify their personal privacy standards in gild to participate in these social networked communities [13].

While there are tremendous benefits that tin be derived from the effective apply of social media there are some unavoidable risks that are involved in its utilize. Much attention should therefore be given to what is shared in these forums. Social platforms such every bit Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are said to exist the most effective media to communicate to Generation Y'southward (Gen Y's), as teens and young adults are the largest user groups on these platforms [22]. However, co-ordinate to Bolton et al. [22] Gen Y's use of social media, if left unabated and unmonitored will accept long-term implications for privacy and date in borough activities as this continuous utilise is resulting in changes in behavior and social norms every bit well every bit increased levels of cyber-crime.

Today social networks are becoming the platform of choice for hackers and other perpetrators of antisocial behavior. These media offer large volumes of data/information ranging from an private's engagement of birth, identify of residence, identify of work/concern, to data about family and other personal activities. In many cases users unintentionally disclose information that tin can exist both dangerous and inappropriate. Data regarding activities on social media can have far reaching negative implications for one's future. A few examples of situations which can, and have been afflicted are employment, visa conquering, and higher acceptance. Indiscriminate participation has too resulted in situations such identity theft and bank fraud only to listing a few. Protecting privacy in today'south networked society can be a cracking challenge. The digital revolution has indeed distorted our views of privacy, even so, there should be clear distinctions between what should be seen by the general public and what should be limited to a selected group. I school of thought is that the merely way to have privacy today is not to share information in these networked communities. However, achieving privacy and command over information flows and disclosure in networked communities is an ongoing process in an surround where contexts alter quickly and are sometimes blurred. This requires intentional construction of systems that are designed to mitigate privacy issues [thirteen].

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5. Ethics and social media

Ideals can be loosely defined every bit "the correct thing to practise" or it tin exist described as the moral philosophy of an individual or grouping and commonly reflects what the individual or group views as good or bad. It is how they classify item situations by categorizing them as right or wrong. Ideals tin can likewise exist used to refer to any nomenclature or philosophy of moral values or principles that guides the actions of an individual or grouping [23]. Upstanding values are intended to be guiding principles that if followed, could yield harmonious results and relationships. They seek to give answers to questions such as "How should I be living? How do I attain the things that are accounted important such as knowledge and happiness or the acquisition of attractive things?" If one chooses happiness, the next question that needs to be answered is "Whose happiness should information technology exist; my own happiness or the happiness of others?" In the domain of social media, some of the ethical questions that must exist contemplated and ultimately answered are [24]:

• Can this post exist regarded as oversharing?

• Has the data in this postal service been distorted in anyway?

• What impact will this post have on others?

As previously mentioned, users within the ages 8–fifteen represent 1 of the largest social media user groups. These young persons within the viii–xv historic period range are nevertheless learning how to collaborate with the people around them and are deciding on the moral values that they volition embrace. These moral values will assistance to dictate how they will interact with the world effectually them. The ethical values that guide our interactions are usually formulated from some moral principle taught to united states by someone or a grouping of individuals including parents, guardians, religious groups, and teachers simply to name a few. Many of the Gen Y's/"Digital Babies" are "newbies" yet are required to determine for themselves the level of responsibility they will display when using the varying social media platforms. This includes considering the impact a postal service will have on their lives and/or the lives of other persons. They must also understand that when they bring together a social media network, they are joining a community in which sure beliefs must exist exhibited. Such responsibility requires a much greater level of maturity than can be expected from them at that historic period.

It is non uncommon for individuals to post even the smallest details of their lives from the moment they wake up to when they go to bed. They will openly share their location, what they eat at every meal or details most activities typically considered individual and personal. They will likewise share likes and dislikes, thoughts and emotional states and for the nigh function this has get an accepted norm. Often times however, these shares do not only incorporate information about the person sharing but information most others as well. Many times, these details are shared on several social media platforms as individuals attempt to ensure that all persons within their social circle are kept updated on their activities. With this openness of sharing risks and challenges arise that are frequently non considered but can take serious impacts. The speed and calibration with which social media creates information and makes it available—almost instantaneously—on a global scale, added to the fact that once something is posted at that place is really no fashion of truly removing it, should prompt individuals to recall of the possible affect a mail tin can take. Unfortunately, generally, posts are made without whatsoever thought of the far-reaching bear on they can have on the lives of the person posting or others that may exist implicated by the post.

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six. Why exercise people share?

According to Berger and Milkman [25] there are five (5) main reasons why users are compelled to share content online, whether it is every detail or what they deem as highlights of their lives. These are:

• crusade related

• personal connection to content

• to feel more than involved in the earth

• to define who they are

• to inform and entertain

People generally share because they believe that what they are sharing is important. It is hoped that the shared content volition be deemed important to others which will ultimately consequence in more shares, likes and followers.

Figure 1 below sums upwardly the findings of Berger and Milkman [25] which shows that the main reason people feel the need to share content on the varying social media platform is that the content relates to what is accounted as worthy crusade. 84% of respondents highlighted this as the principal motivation for sharing. Seventy-eight percent said that they share because they feel a personal connection to the content while 69 and 68%, respectively said the content either made them feel more involved with the earth or helped them to define who they were. Forty-nine percent share because of the amusement or information value of the content. A more in depth expect at each reason for sharing follows.

Figure i.

Why people share source: Global Social Media Research. thesocialmediahat.com [26].

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vii. Content related to a cause

Social media has provided a platform for people to share their thoughts and express concerns with others for what they regard every bit a worthy cause. Cause related posts are dependent on the interest of the individual. Some persons might share posts related to causes and issues happening in society. In one example, the parents of a baby with an ambitious form of leukemia, who having been told that their child had merely 3 months to live unless a suitable donor for a blood stem prison cell transplant could be found, made an appeal on social media. The appeal was quickly shared and a suitable donor was presently plant. While that was for a adept cause, many view social media but as platforms for liberty of oral communication considering anyone can post any content ane creates. People think the expression of their thoughts on social media regarding any topic is permissible. The problem with this is that the content may not be accepted by law or it could violate the rights of someone thus giving rise to ethical questions.

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8. Content with a personal connection

When social media users experience a personal connection to their content, they are more inclined to share the content within their social circles. This is true of data regarding family and personal activities. Content created by users as well invokes a deep feeling of connexion equally it allows the users to tell their stories and it is natural to desire the world or at least friends to know of the accomplishment. This natural need to share content is not new as humans have been doing this in some form or the other, starting with oral history to the media of the twenty-four hours; social media. Sharing the self-created content gives the user the opportunity of satisfying some primal needs of humans to be heard, to thing, to exist understood and emancipated. The problem with this still is that in an endeavour to gratify the fundamental needs, borders are crossed because the content may non be sharable (can this content be shared inside the share network?), it may not be share-worthy (who is the audience that would capeesh this content?) or it may exist out of context (does the content fit the state of affairs?).

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9. Content that makes them feel more involved in the world

One of the driving factors that pushes users to share content is the need to feel more in tune with the earth around them. This desire is many times fueled by jealousy. Many social media users are jealous when their friends' content gets more attention than their own and then there is a lot of pressure to maintain ane's persona in social circles, fifty-fifty when the information is unrealistic, as long as it gets equally much attention every bit possible. Everything has to be perfect. In the case of a photo, for example, there is lighting, camera angle and background to consider. This need for perfection puts a tremendous amount of pressure on individuals to ensure that posted content is "liked" past friends. They frequently give very little idea to the amount of their friend'southward work that may take gone on backside the scenes to achieve that perfect social post.

Social media platforms have provided everyone with a forum to limited views, merely, as a whole, conversations are more polarized, tribal and hostile. With Facebook for instance, there has been a huge uptick in fake news, altered images, dangerous health claims and cures, and the proliferation of anti-science information. This is very distressing and disturbing because people are too willing to share and to believe without doing their due diligence and fact-checking starting time.

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10. Content that defines who they are

Establishing i's individuality in club tin can be challenging for some persons because not everyone wants to fit in. Some individuals volition do all they tin can to stand out and exist noticed. Social media provides the avenue for exposure and many individuals volition seek to leverage the media to stand out of the crowd and non just be a fish in the schoolhouse. Today many young people are currently being brought up in a civilisation that defines people past their presence on social media where in previous generations, persons were taught to define themselves past their career choices. These lessons would start from childhood by asking children what they wanted to be when they grew upwards so rewarding them based on the answers they give [27]. In today'south digital era, however, social media postings and the number of "likes" or "dislikes" they attract, signal what is appealing to others. Therefore, post that are similar to those that receive a large number of likes simply which are largely unrealistic are usually made for self-gratification.

11. Content that informs and entertains

The acquisition of noesis and skills is a vital function of human being survival and social media has made this process much easier. It is not uncommon to hear persons realizing that they need a particular knowledge prepare that they do not possess say "I need to lean to do this. I'll just YouTube it." Learning and adapting to change in as short as possible time is vital in today'south society and social media coupled with the Internet put it all at the finger tips. Entertainment has the ability to bring people together and is a good way for people to bond. It provides a diversion from the demands of life and fills leisure time with entertainment. Social media is an outlet for fun, pleasurable and enjoyable activities that are so vital to human survival [28]. It is now common place to see persons watching a video, viewing images and reading text that is amusing on whatsoever of the available social media platforms. Quite oft these videos, images and texts tin exist both informative and entertaining, but there can exist bug however equally at times they tin cross ethical lines that can pb to conflict.

12. Upstanding challenges with social media utilise

The utilize of modern-day technology has brought several benefits. Social media is no different and primary amongst its benefit is the power to stay continued hands and chop-chop as well as build relationships with people with similar interests. As with all technology, there are several challenges that can make the employ of social media off putting and unpleasant. Some of these challenges appear to be modest but they can take far reaching furnishings into the lives of the users of social media and it is therefore advised that care exist taken to minimize the challenges associated with the use of social media [29].

A major challenge with the use of social media is oversharing because when persons share on social media, they tend to share as much every bit is possible which is oftentimes times too much [24]. When persons are out and well-nigh doing heady things, it is natural to desire to share this with the globe as many users volition post a few times a twenty-four hours when they caput to lunch, visit a museum, go out to dinner or other places of involvement [30]. While this all seems relatively harmless, by using location-based services which pinpoint users with surprising accurateness and in existent fourth dimension, users identify themselves in danger of laying out a pattern of movement that can be easily traced. While this seems more similar a security or privacy effect it stems from an ethical dilemma—"Am I sharing too much?" Oversharing can also lead to damage of user's reputation peculiarly if the intent is to leverage the platform for business [24]. Photos of drunken beliefs, drug use, partying or other inappropriate content can alter how you lot are viewed past others.

Another ethical challenge users of social media oft meet is that they have no way of authenticating content before sharing, which becomes problematic when the content paints people or establishments negatively. Often times content is shared with them past friends, family and colleagues. The unauthenticated content is then reshared without any thought but sometimes this content may accept been maliciously contradistinct so the user unknowingly participates in maligning others. Even if the content is not contradistinct the fact that the content paints someone or something in a bad calorie-free should send off alert bells every bit to whether or non it is right to share the content which is the underlying principle of ethical beliefs.

13. Conflicting views

Some of the challenges experienced by social media posts are a result of a lack of understanding and sometimes a lack of respect for the varying upstanding and moral standpoints of the people involved. We have established that it is typical for persons to post to social media sites without any thought equally to how it can affect other persons, merely many times these posts are a crusade of disharmonize because of a difference of stance that may exist and the result the post may accept. Each private will have his or her own ethical values and if they differ then this can result in disharmonize [31]. When an executive of a British company made an Instagram post with some racial connotations before boarding a plane to South Africa it started a frenzy that resulted in the executive's immediate dismissal. Although the executive said it was a joke and at that place was no prejudice intended, this difference in views every bit to the implications of the post, resulted in an out of work executive and a company scrambling to maintain its public epitome.

14. Impact on personal development

In this age of sharing, many young persons spend a vast corporeality of time on social media checking the activities of their "friends" every bit well as posting on their own activities so their "friends" are enlightened of what they are up to. Apart from interfering with their bookish progress, fourth dimension spent on these posts at can have long term repercussions. An case is provided by a student of a prominent university who posted pictures of herself having a adept fourth dimension at parties while in school. She was denied employment because of some of her social media posts. While the ethical claiming hither is the question of the employee's right to privacy and whether the individual's social media profile should affect their ability to fulfill their responsibilities as an employee, the impact on the private'south long term personal growth is clear.

15. Determination

In today'south information age, one's digital footprint can brand or suspension someone; it tin be the deciding factor on whether or not one achieves ane's life-long ambitions. Unethical behavior and interactions on social media can have far reaching implications both professionally and socially. Posting on the Internet means the "cease of forgetting," therefore, responsible utilise of this medium is critical. The unethical use of social media has implications for privacy and can result in security breaches both physically and near. The use of social media can too result in the loss of privacy every bit many users are required to provide data that they would not divulge otherwise. Social media employ can reveal information that can event in privacy breaches if not managed properly past users. Therefore, educating users of the risks and dangers of the exposure of sensitive information in this infinite, and encouraging vigilance in the protection of individual privacy on these platforms is paramount. This could result in the reduction of unethical and irresponsible utilize of these media and facilitate a more secure social surroundings. The apply of social media should exist governed by moral and ethical principles that can be applied universally and effect in harmonious relationships regardless of race, culture, religious persuasion and social status.

Analysis of the literature and the findings of this research suggest achieving acceptable levels of privacy is very difficult in a networked system and will require much endeavour on the function of individuals. The largest user groups of social media are unaware of the processes that are required to reduce the level of vulnerability of their personal information. Therefore, educating users of the adventure of participating in social media is the social responsibility of these social network platforms. Adapting universally ethical behaviors can mitigate the rising in the number of privacy breaches in the social networking infinite. This recommendation coincides with philosopher Immanuel Kant's exclamation that, the Biblical principle which states "Do unto others equally you have them do unto yous" can be applied universally and should guide human interactions [5]. This principle, if adhered to by users of social media and owners of these platforms could raise the awareness of unsuspecting users, reduce unethical interactions and undesirable incidents that could negatively affect privacy, and by extension security in this domain.

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Written Past

Nadine Barrett-Maitland and Jenice Lynch

Submitted: September 11th, 2019 Reviewed: Dec 19th, 2019 Published: Feb 5th, 2020

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Eatables Attribution three.0 License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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