Social Media Ethics

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• Social Media Ethics
• Facebook Twitter Pinterest, Oh My!
• Tips for the Ethical Social Media Practitioner
• Deborah A. Silverman, Ph.D., APR
• Chair
• PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards
• May 29, 2012

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Social Media activities that have damaged
reputations and destroyed trust.

• FACEBOOK FIASCO OUR INDUSTRY IS BETTER THAN THIS
  --- PR Week
• FTC ISSUES 250,000 FINE FOR FAKE ONLINE REVIEWS
• --- Ragans PR Daily
• WHOLE FOODS CEO CRITICIZED RIVAL IN ANONYMOUS
  POSTS
• --- Bloomberg NewsKENNETH COLES EGYPT TWEET
  OFFENDS JUST ABOUT EVERYONE ON TWITTER
• --- AOL.News

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Questionable social media behavior begs the
question Can I Trust Your Organization At
All?
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• Trust is like the air we breathe. When its
  present, nobody really notices. But when its
  absent, everybody notices.
• -- Warren Buffett

Slide Source Michael G. Cherenson, APR, Oct. 2008
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How can PR pros help establish trust for an
organization or a brand?

• The Public Relations Society of America
• Code of Ethics
• A standard for ethical behavior and trust
  building

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PRSA Code of Ethics

• Values
• Fairness
• Independence
• Advocacy
• Honesty
• Expertise
• Loyalty

• Provisions
• Free Flow of Information
• Competition
• Disclosure of Information
• Safeguarding Confidences
• Conflicts of Interest
• Enhancing the Profession

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Ethical Decision-Making Process

• Identify the ethical issue and/or conflict. 
• Determine internal/external factors likely to
  influence your decision (financial, contractual,
  legal issues, etc.).
• Choose key PRSA values that apply.
• Consider parties who will be affected by your
  decision and your obligation to each one.
• Select ethical principles to guide your decision
  making (see PRSA code provisions).
• Make a decision.

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Now lets look at some real case examples of
Social Media Ethical Dilemmas
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• Fairness
• Independence

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• Fairness
• Deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors,
  peers, vendors, the media, and the general
  public.
• Required Actions for PR Pros
• Respect all opinions.
• Support the right of free expression.
• Build trust with the public by revealing all
  information needed for responsible decision
  making.

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Social Media Fairness Situations

• Water district taps Google for good coverage
• -- Los Angeles Times
• http//www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-central-ba
  sin-20110913,0,5172726.story
• Google News cuts links to website the next day
• http//articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/14/local/la-m
  e-central-basin-google-20110914

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• Independence
• We provide objective counsel to those we
  represent to build the trust of clients,
  employers and the public. We are accountable for
  our actions.
• Required Actions for PR Pros
• Avoid real, potential or perceived conflicts of
  interest for yourself, your organization, and
  your clients.
• Speak up when others want to violate professional
  practice standards be the voice of
  professionalism.
• Speak truth to power show the long-term value
  of ethical behavior and the consequences for
  unethical behavior.

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Social Media Independence Situations

• Interns posting false reviews.
• http//www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/technology/27ftc
  .html?_r1
• 250K Reasons To Pay Attention To The Blogger
  Rules -- PRSAY
• http//prsay.prsa.org/index.php/2011/03/25/revisit
  ing-ftc-blogger-rules/

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• Advocacy
• Honesty

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• Advocacy
• We serve the public interest by acting as
  responsible advocates for those we represent.
• Required Actions for PR Pros
• Tell your organizations side of the story
  honestly without using misleading facts, spurious
  arguments or bogus emotional appeals.
• Provide a voice for the organization through
  ideas, facts and viewpoints to aid informed
  public debate.

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• Social Media Advocacy Situations
• Duke Nukems PR Threatens To Punish Sites That
  Run Negative Reviews
• -- Wired.com
• http//www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/duke-nukems
  -pr-threatens/
• Redner Group Loses Biggest Client Over Tweet
  --Advertising Age
• http//adage.com/article/digital/redner-group-lose
  s-biggest-client-tweet/228225/
•  

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• Honesty
• We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy
  and truth in advancing the interests of those we
  represent and in communicating with the public.
• Required Actions for PR Pros
• Maintain the integrity of relationships with the
  media, government officials, and the public.
• Investigate the accuracy of information given to
  you.
• Reveal sponsors for causes/interests.
• Disclose financial interests.

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Social Media Honesty Situations

• Marie Callenders fake intimate Italian
  restaurant and hidden camera
• Bloggers Dont Follow The Script, To Con Agras
  Chagrin New York Times
• http//www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/business/media/w
  hen-bloggers-dont-follow-the-script-to-conagras-ch
  agrin.html

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• Expertise
• Loyalty

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Expertise

• We advance our profession through our continued
  professional development, research, and
  education.
• Required Actions for PR Pros
• Know your craft and stay informed (read the Code
  of Ethics and the Professional Standards
  Advisories).
• Build mutual understanding, credibility and
  relationships among a wide array of institutions
  and audiences.

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Social Media Expertise Situations

• _at_Kennethcole
• Millions are in an uproar in Cairo. Rumor is
  they heard our new spring collection is now
  available online. KC
• Kenneth Cole's Egypt Tweet Offends Just About
  Everyone on Twitter
• -- AOL.News
• http//money.cnn.com/2011/02/03/news/companies/Ken
  nethCole_twitter/index.htm
• http//mashable.com/2011/02/03/kenneth-cole-egypt/
  

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Loyalty We are faithful to those we represent,
while honoring our obligation to be honest and
serve the public interest.

• Required Actions for PR Pros
• Act in the best interests of the client.
• Protect the privacy rights of clients,
  organizations, and individuals by safeguarding
  confidential information, even when no longer
  employed by them.

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Social Media Loyalty Situations

• _at_Redcross
• Ryan found two more 4 bottle packs of Dogfish
  Heads Midas Touch bear.when we drink we do it
  right gettingslizzerd
• http//money.cnn.com/2011/02/17/smallbusiness/dogf
  ish_redcross/index.htm
• http//www.aolnews.com/2011/02/17/rogue-beer-tweet
  -by-red-cross-employee-leads-to-donations/

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Bottom Line Reputation is based on
trust.Profits come from strong reputations.And
strong reputations come from doing the right
thing.
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• For more information about the
• PRSA Code of Ethics go to
• http//www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/

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PRSA Ethics Month - September

• Two Tweet chats
• Webinar chapter ethics officers, other PRSA
  members, PRSSA students
• Ethics article in Tactics
• PRSAY blog posts
• Trans-Atlantic Ethics Summit with PRSAs British
  counterpart (CIPR Chartered Institute of Public
  Relations)

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Questions?

• Dr. Deborah Silverman, APR
• Associate Professor of Communication
• Buffalo State College
• Email silverda_at_buffalostate.edu
• Phone [phone]