Social Networking websites- Ethical Issues

Information technology has myriad of benefits on citizen's life but it has brought some shortcomings with it as well. Privacy has become a huge concern on this great feat because of its all-pervasive nature among the lives of the people.Social media is a most recent way of engaging the customer online by not only talking to the customer but knowing everything they do online while they participate in conversations with their friends and families. Everyone comprehends the importance of social media in marketing and strategic management but while all this happens users become susceptible to privacy invasion. (Personal information online code of practice, 2010)

The above mentioned technologies provide various advantages like easy access to enormous data which is nearly impossible to fathom otherwise, making communication very easy, providing various search options and complex analysis techniques. Also, it is of great use to marketers to utilize this data to understand their consumers in a better way. It is also useful to the consumers because of easy reach to the companies and business about their opinions, demographics, shopping habits and trends visible in the society. 

Other ways in which this data can be used is to identify the anomalies in the sales trend, forecasting sales and designing the marketing mix for the particular products.  But , most of the times this information is sensitive and private in nature and can lead to serious misuse as it lead to its unintended use because the rules governing the use of personal data are not clear or restrictive enough to protect the interest of subjects which were used. (Michael McFarland, Markkula center for applied ethics)