Digital Ethics - Does increased competition diminish the requirement for them?

The digital sector is growing despite the current recession and it's growing on all fronts.

Not just the corporate consumption and requirement for new digital media products, but the consumer end interest in digital solutions to feed daily needs for communication and organisation.

Social media is now as popular as hula hoops were in 1958, everyone is setting up a Twitter account, even if they never use it.

While industry trends are in their early stages, mainly used by early adopters and pioneers, I was wondering if ethical standards of the industry are higher?

I've done some studies into network theories and trend analysis, but I've never read anything relating to the quality of the adoption of early users compared to the later mass followers.

By ethical standards I'm talking about the lengths people will go to ensure they win new business, gain new followers, or exploit their position for their own personal self gain at the expense of others.

Is it that as interest grows in an area, it attracts more people that might be less concerned with ethical approaches. Or can the ethics of those already established alter as the field becomes more competitive.

Adopting the "well they're doing it, so why shouldn't I" I find to be one of the most frustrating attributes of human nature.

But I accepted a long time ago that it was an attribute, and one that I was likely to encounter on a daily basis, so I'd better just get on and accept it.

So how are these unethical approaches rearing their ugly heads in the digital media world?

In no particular order:

• Spam - The least ethical and most popular (i.e. heavily used, not most liked) has to be spam. Spam has evolved and it's a clever business. The recent uptake of social media hasn't been free of the invasion of spam, Twitter is thoroughly riddled with spam accounts. Spam works off the principle of the larger the distribution of your message, the more likely one person is going buy into the idea.


• Black hat SEO - Next unethical practice that springs to mind is black hat SEO. I'm no expert on SEO, I know the principles and I'd certainly say I know a lot more than your average Joe, but I'm not going to start an in depth discussion on what defines "black hat". Generally it's using underhand tactics that lead to the promotion of your website in SERP's (search engine results page).


• Undisclosed affiliate linking - Next up would likely be affiliate linking without disclosure. Affiliate linking allows you to earn from people clicking on links to companies that you've created a relationship with. I've no issue with declared affiliate linking as we've all got to pay the bills; it's the undeclared affiliate links that people use I find unethical.


• Link baiting - Link baiting is an idea that can be unethical, but isn't always, in fact sometimes it's a very effective and ethical method of encouraging people to investigate further. A creative title to a link that encourages you to investigate a subject further is generally fine and can utilise some very creative thinking. However, a link that is claiming to link to one thing and the links to another completely different topic is another matter.


• Ghost writing - This might be seen as a controversial inclusion, but I'm putting it out there. Personally I feel the world of social media should be . . . well . . . personal. It should be written by you or if it's a company account, by members of your staff. Social media is all about engagement and when I "engage" with an individual or a brand on whatever platform it might be, I'd like to think it was the "real them".

There are several more marginally unethical tactics including the recent craze in increasing follower numbers on social media platforms, seemingly removing the value that social networking offered in the first place.

Behaving ethically on the internet might sound naive to some, come on it's the real world out there, dog eat dog and all that.

Not so for me, ethical actions generally lead me to trust individuals and companies. Trust is an invaluable asset that everyone should be striving to achieve.

Rather than completing sales, increasing numbers or improving awareness through deception, achieving the same through a process of relationship development and proven value.

Not only will the relationship last far longer than any quick hit, but you'll find it will grow to include other relationships with connected contacts. Which is what I always assumed social networking was supposed to encourage anyway?

I'm not naive enough to think that we can have a society where everyone acts ethically, but if just some of us can think about our actions and aim to work ethically it can have a great affect on others.

Here's to a more ethical digital approach in an evolving industry.


Related reading:

Honesty is this best policy - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/06/honesty-is-best-policy.html

Managing expectations - Keep everyone happy - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/06/managing-expectations-keep-everyone.html


Moral social prerogatives - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2008/12/moral-social-prerogatives.html

Client & staff engagement - The importance of soft skills - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/02/client-staff-engagement-importance-of.html

blog comments powered by Disqus