Thursday 5 May 2016

Legal and Ethical Factors Constraining The Use Of Social Media In Business

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming a more and more used way an integral part of the way people communicate. These sites are increasingly used by members of the legal profession both in their personal and business capacities.

Current Use Of Social Media In Business Practice:


Because social media sites have been growing more and more popular, employers are taking advantage and using these sites in their hiring processes. Companies and organizations looking to hire applicants have seen an increasing value in utilizing social media to check the background of individuals.


A 2008 survey of US Human Resources departments found 84% of employers utilized online search engines to find applicants, an increase from 77% back in 2006


There is no law in place that restricts employers from considering information on an individual's social network profiles when making a recruitment decision.


Legal:

There is a large concern of people who believe that employers may not hire someone due to their physical appearance (race etc.) or beliefs from information they find on social media websites. This is argued that the employers can breach the Sex Discrimination act without being actually caught for it.

Ethical:

Through public profiles, employers may see protected class information or sensitive and private activities that are not job-relevant but that may influence the employer's view of a candidate, which brings in both legal and ethical questions


Wednesday 4 May 2016

Dangers Of Social Media

In this blog I will discuss the Dangers of Social Media

Oversharing:
The thing with people in social media is that people like to share what they do, sometimes they can overshare. This could lead to problems such as a robbery from a property of yours or even cases of social engineering.

Cyber bullying:
One of the most common threats to people in social media. Cyber Bullying is the act of bullying someone online rather than in person. The victims tend to be children, teenagers and young adults. This can involve something such as a hateful comment or message sent to someone. The easiest way to avoid this is for the victim to simply block the bully on all social media platforms. At the same time it is still bullying and also a criminal offense.

Grooming:
Grooming is a large problem in social media as it is used to stalk vulnerable young victims. The groomers often use fake profiles to befriend the children and arrange a meet up with them. This is a very illegal act and is a long-term jailable offense.

Hacking:
If someone is somehow able to hack one of your social media accounts, they are able to use all of your personal information that you have already provided to the site. This can be used as a form of identity theft/fraud.


Characteristics of Social Media

This blog input will talk about the characteristics of social media.

Web Address
Firstly, a social media site will give the user their own web address, an ID that is used to locate the user's page. This is good for people looking for social presence whether it be a band, a business or even just someone looking for publicity.

Web Space
The social media provider will often provide the user with the ability to save and share content such as media, blogs etc with other users.

Connecting With People and Friends
This is one of the key points of social media, actually being able to be social. Many social media platforms allow people to use instant messaging services, "tag" friends in media, play games and more.

Creating Your Profiles To Your Own Preference
In most social media websites you have the ability to build and create your own profile from scratch, although the users can only work with what the social media provider allows.