Ethics and Integrity in Social Media

Abstract

The proliferation of social media has become extremely famous among the societies. Societies accept this technology as an important amenity in their daily lives. However, of each of the advancement of the technology, it must be good for mutual benefits although there are the cons on the misuse of this technology. Here, the issue of ethics and integrity in the use of social media are emphasized to show people that the misuse of the technology can happen unnoticed or unplanned. Currently, hot topics or issues on social ethics and integrity in the media have so often given a big impact in people's lives. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the matters of ethics and integrity in social media. It mentions the societies as the startingpoint for addressing major challenges and issues, reviews literature on social media trends and research, draws on examples of influences and also personal competencies required for ethics and integrity. The review from various empirical studies and literature reviews will focus on two (2) major aspects; leadership and education which will be a great contribution to any research done in this area in the near future. Keyword: Ethics, Integrity, Social Media, Leadership and Education. Introduction The popularity of social media brings to the transaction of information quickly and easily. The widespread use of social media today does not count the strata of society of all ages, whether for children, youth or adults. The onset of various episodes of the life and arrangement of the human life cycle, which relies heavily on media technology to enhance the everyday affairs of human life. The medium of social media introduces the use of mediated-communication into the relationship process and have organizational procedures of software that control the exchange of interpersonal information in social media networking sites such as text messaging, instant messenger programs, bulletin boards, online games, online education and much more. All of these applications are fit into a larger scenario of social media which support social collaboration. The term of social media is an umbrella concept that describes social sites and social networking. In pursuit of modernity that use social media, people need to realize that they need to have the values of ethics and integrity in the management of handling with social media. Ethics means sound moral principles and it focuses on a good grip of clean character, while International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 1 , No. 5, 2021, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2021 HRMARS 312 integrity refers to the set of superior quality that exists among individuals and the quality is based on the principles adhere that to honesty and high moral practice. Societies faced the real world of extraordinarily advanced technology with high impact challenges of personal competencies which requires them to be more alert to their ethics and integrity while conducting any occasions from the social media. If the ethics and integrity are ignored while using social media, the problem of misuse will appear. The increasingly widespread use of social media has brought all the advantages and disadvantages of their used. Here the existence of social media’s misuse arises in every aspect of human life. Further, social media sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore them, and share every moment and activities in their daily life. Teenagers freely give their personal information to join social networking on the media social sites (Barnes, 2006). Social sites allow its users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and also offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email or instant messenger. The unawareness of the usage of social media sites is causing cases of online friendship that turned violent or even homicidal. The misuse of technology from social media lead to the unethical attitude and also zero practices of integrity in their life. Kaplan \& Haenlein (2010) define social media as a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. To understand more easily, it is necessary to know the purpose of the media first. Media is one of the means of communication for example newspapers and radio. Thus, social media means the social instrument of communication. Social Media is an online media and users can easily communicate in any manner or through blogs, wikis, forums and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and more. Social networking is a method which is often used by people in the world. Traditional media such as newspapers or television has limitations to the user because the user has difficulty to give an opinion or an independent view on something published. However, with the presence of social media, users can easily throw their opinion and be able to communicate to the world without barriers. Continuity of social media usage among the public is through the nature of ethics and integrity. Ethics, in general, is the superior quality of the overall shape and volume of the individual and the organization. Integrity is closely related to ethics. It is based on ethics in action in everyday situations (Malaysian Institute of Integrity and National Integrity Plan, 2016). Individual ethics is a set of values in a person that enables him to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad, that should and can do, and what should not and cannot do. The choice between these things always happens on the job, in everyday life, or when interacting with others. For those who work in an organization, the organization's ethics produce guidelines for employees to perform tasks, such as the need to hold on to the clean, efficient, trustworthy, honest, truthful, transparent, accountable and fair. As organizations deal with people, organizational ethics also demand that comply with the Charter. Professional ethics is a code that outlines what should and should not be made by professional practitioners. Among the professions that have a code of ethics, include medical, judicial, legal, accounting, journalism and teaching. For example, a doctor or a judge is bound by professional ethics. An editor, writer or journalist will have to stick to the ethics of journalism in the dissemination of information through the media. Similarly, a teacher must comply with ethics. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 1 , No. 5, 2021, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2021 HRMARS 313 Integrity, in general, is the superior quality that exists as a whole and on individual and organizational strife. Integrity is closely related to ethics. It is based on ethics and ethical reflection in everyday actions. Individual integrity is harmony between what the individual with what he fulfilled; consistency between actions with moral principles, ethics and law; and concordance between self-interest and the public interest. The integrity of the organization is reflected in the formulation and implementation of codes of ethics, charter or systems and work processes and adherence to best practices. The organization should have code of ethics, and being practiced by the members of the organization until it becomes a habit and eventually becomes the organization's culture. For individuals who hold their trust as occupying public office, trust and integrity mean implementing powers entrusted by the public interest. The servant cannot abuse his power for personal, family, relatives or kin. When there is a conflict of interest, it must be resolved by giving precedence to the public interest. Thus, the servant must be transparent and sincere, must take responsibility for his boss, subordinates, and to other parties. Civilizing ethics and integrity of the individual must go through a lifelong process. It involves the role of various public institutions such as family, education, and mass media. Civilizing ethics and integrity within the organization demand that leaders act as an example (role model) while the other members practice it in their actions. Organizations also need to have clear and realistic goals that are shared by members of the organization. It is necessary to have good systems and procedures to ensure the smooth execution of their duties in an efficient, organized, and accurate, in addition to having a system of quality control, monitoring, reward, and punishment. Literature Review Leadership A leader is a person who is recognized by one or more than one person, when the leaders have influence, authority and power (Ramaiah, 1999). Professional level leadership in an organization is very important in creating a conducive working atmosphere and competent. Eddy (2012), investigated the CEO leadership styles and the implementation of organizational diversity practices which affect the social values. Specifically, this study examines the CEO transformation and transactional leadership in relation to organizational diversity practices. The results suggested that transformation leadership is most strongly associated with the implementation of diversity practices. These findings extend previous work and highlight the central role that organizational leaders may play in the success of this implementation practices. Organization is a complex adaptive system operating which needs an extra demand on leaders. Hence, leadership requires a leader of extraordinary abilities. Leadership in relation to ethics might go wrong in several ways which may lead to a tighter relationship between leaders and followers. Michael (2014), came out with assumptions of a good character of leaders. Leaders whether they are university presidents or senators, corporation executives or newspaper editors, school superintendents or governors, contribu