The Importance of Social Media Ethics and Rules of Engagement in Curbing Cyberbullying

Abstract

Cyberbullying is a social media phenomenon that affects individuals in the real world. Its effects are felt in the form of school dropouts, low self-esteem, and other health problems. However, through the observance of social media ethics and rules of engagement, social media users can avoid much of the negativity associated with cyberbullying. In this paper, we will explore how social media ethics and engagement rules can help to eliminate the problem of cyberbullying. We will also discuss the importance of future research in this area.

Keywords: cyberbullying, social media ethics, rules of engagement, communication

The Importance of Social Media Ethics and Rules of Engagement in Curbing Cyberbullying

Problem Statement

The concept of social media ethics refers to the continuous and loosely evolving set of rules regarding communication behavior on social media. The concept pertains to maintaining an individual's respect, dignity, and those of others. As with offline etiquette or behavior, observing ethics while engaging online is beneficial as this pays off in the long run. The rules of engagement in social media assists individual develop protective strategies while engaging with others online. The idea is embedded in the notion that one can effectively manage a crisis before it occurs by having a plan. Social media has become an important aspect of external communication. However, the nature of social media has also created certain crises that individuals and organizations find challenging to cope with and solve due to lack of preparation. The interaction between individuals through social media is marked by anonymity, leading to disregarding etiquette during communication (Kibbe & Chhaya, 2022). As a result, it becomes easier for an individual to express frustrations and anger with no particular consequences, which constitutes cyberbullying. Therefore, cyberbullying is bound to become a norm without proper rules of engagement and ethics or etiquette in social media communication. 

Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between social media ethics, rules of engagement, and cyberbullying?

2. What are the impacts of cyberbullying?

3. How can social media ethics and rules of engagement be used to eliminate cases of cyberbullying?

Literature Review

Social Media Ethics and Cyberbullying

According to Ward (2013), digital media ethics is a concept that deals with distinct ethical norms, practices, and problems. Social media forms part of the digital media alongside blogging, online journalism, digital photojournalism, and citizen journalism. Digital media ethics concerns how citizens should use these new platforms for communication purposes. Revolution in social media is irrevocably and fundamentally transforming ethics and communication through various platforms. The issues of ethics in social media communication in the United States are new and are consistent with the provisions under the Code of Ethics (2016). The Board of Ethics is mandated to review issues in the statement of ethics periodically to ensure that they are in tandem with the requirements of the professions and are also consistent with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) policies. The issues of ethics statement outlined by ASHA will increase awareness and expand sensitivity. The issues are also meant to promote thoughtful consideration of ethical issues.

Social media has benefitted society in many ways by transforming how people communicate and engage with each other. Nevertheless, the platforms are also characterized by powers that can cause harm to the users. According to Slonje et al. (2013), cyberbullying is the act of posting hurtful messages about others. The act of cyberbullying is a moral and ethical issue that has created immense impacts on the lives, especially of the youth. Some people use technology for an unintended purpose, hurting others psychologically, socially, and physically. Informed conscience, determination, and sin are the main drivers of people engaging in acts of cyberbullying. The emotional harm that is associated with the problem of cyberbullying can lead the victim to contemplate or commit suicide. Statistics suggest that 1 in 5 individuals under 18 have experienced cyberbullying (Slonje et al., 2013). Moreover, it is reported that 463,000 children experienced acts of cyberbullying in 2013 alone (Slonje et al., 2013). As such, cyberbullying is a form of moral evil that has penetrated the lives of young social media users.

Social media refers to communication through websites and other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn that share information through large groups of people. People also use social media to advance their businesses and develop professionals and social contact. ASHA continues to encourage its members and certificate holders to partake in exchanges and discussions concerning controversial issues and topics about speech-language pathology. According to Bosse et al. (2020), unfortunately, some colleagues post inflammatory messages on Facebook and Twitter, among other social media platforms. As a result, the agency pleads with its members and certificate holders to ensure good judgment by avoiding personal attacks between social media users. Social media users must learn to exercise civility in professions when utilizing different social media platforms for communication purposes. One of how social media users engage in unethical conduct is cyberbullying, in which users resort to personal attacks against each other by posting messages that damage the reputation of others. 

Under certain circumstances, the unethical use of social media platforms may amount to an ethical violation of the Code of Ethics (2016). One of the examples of such violations includes posting distinctive personal information about another individual that goes against the requirements for confidentiality. Another example is providing a misrepresentation of an individual's personality to the public, which amounts to cyberbullying. Posting offensive or insulting opinions, including putting the remarks in documents, does not violate the code but amounts to the act of uncivil discourse. Posting such remarks would be considered to violate the code if they lead to defamation (Skiados, 2019). Ethical issues in social media can also be examined by looking at the conduct of businesses. When a business entity posts a detailed comment about a client, they expose to the social media community that the client receives treatment from them, damaging the client. Therefore, businesses must take measures to protect their clients from such exposures. 

Incivility in professional and personal communication has recently become a norm on social media platforms. As a result, ASHA has developed four basic tenets that such communication ought to follow. To begin with, such communication should demonstrate respect. Often, colleagues are expected to disagree on different issues and never reach a consensus. Nevertheless, it is inappropriate to channel disparaging and public criticism toward peers as this harms the profession. Based on the code of ethics by ASHA, members need to encourage harmonious relationships with their peers and other contacts. Social media platforms are vehicles that enable connection and engagements and thus should not limit the interaction of an individual with their communities. According to Skiados (2019), those members who are dissatisfied with the comments of their colleagues should engage in private conversation to solve the conflict amicably. The idea is that the member ought to recognize that the recipient has the right to choose how to answer the queries.

Another principle ASHA has established to be followed by social media communication is encouraging constructive dialogue. Professional discussions conducted through social media are expected to be based on a topic or issue as opposed to the character, intelligence, opinion, or culture of a participant. Constructive dialogue fosters greater understanding and insight, even if the participants' opinion stays the same. Divisiveness and public antagonism lead to dishonor to the professions, while constructive engagement among people demonstrates professionalism. In line with this, the dialogue that ASHA encourages on social media is expected to discourage public belittling. As such, this forms the third tenant of professional social media communication. Professional peers should discourage bullying and humiliation of other professionals through sharing or liking disrespectful or discourteous content. Users who encounter such behaviors against a colleague may want to extend support to articulate their positions and engage in the conversation even though they may disagree with the position. 

Modeling of professionalism is the final tenet that ASHA has formulated to enable the effective use of social media for communication purposes. The messages, behaviors, and words used on digital platforms mirror the competencies and personalities of their initiators. In addition, they also reflect on their credibility and value of the entire communication discipline. Therefore, it is imperative that members of ASHA set good professional and personal behaviors for current and future professionals. In line with the issues of professionalism and dishonesty, professional sites such as LinkedIn have been known to shape deception patterns, especially concerning resumes presentation (Guillory & Hancock, 2012). The deception comes from the desire to have a generally good self-representation to others. Incivility raises ethical concerns. The perceived private groups on social media are often not private as they may seem. A good example of unethical conduct in such cases is when a member takes a screenshot of the conversations and comments in the group and shares them online. However, before an individual engages in any activity on social media, they should think about the potential repercussions of their actions.

Social media users often encounter ethical issues such as cyberbullying, stalking, trolling, privacy violations, and hacking. Kohlberg's theory of moral development explains the individual's engagement in unethical conduct on social media. The theory is divided into three primary levels, each having two stages. The theory essentially represents how a child develops moral reasoning. The levels include pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality (Mcleod, 2013). The pre-conventional morality level is characterized by two stages: obedience and punishment and individualism and exchange. The conventional stage is characterized by developing good interpersonal relationships and maintaining social order. The final level of post-conventional morality is marked by the stage of the social contract and individual rights and universal principles. In the last stage, people adhere to their internalized principles of justice even if they go against ethics and the law. 

Rules of Engagement and Cyberbullying

Social media has reinvented communication, information dissemination, and marketing. Social media today present a hallowed ground that connects prospects, customers, and those who influence their decisions in an interactive, balanced, and shared medium. Although businesses have benefitted through gaining access to these rich social media channels, the real promise of social media depends on the direct connections created between those who define the market and those who represent companies. Conversations between people on social media will go on with or without the introduction of helpful content that create relevance or any meaningful engagement. As a result, to gain relevance, businesses ought to infuse rules of engagement and codes of conduct when engaging in the perception and definition of brand and reputation through social media platforms. Today, many businesses solve this dilemma by establishing rules and guidelines. The idea is an important step, and as such, it should not have been economized. Nevertheless, the efforts made by businesses so far are not enough.

The best practice is to recommend introducing protocols and directions that remind and instruct users of the privilege and importance of engagement. The idea is embedded in the saying that if time is money, then attention is gold (Wigley & Lewis, 2012). Popular social media networks remain open, and this is trivial. Besides the fact that anyone is free to join, any entity can create a profile, a brand-related page, or a group. Businesses' brand image on social media depends on the devices used, the values offered in exchange, the rewards introduced as part of the experience, the intentions behind the engagement, and the content created and distributed. Presence is bound to be felt on social media, just as in the real world. The continuous evolution of social media calls for more than establishing guidelines and policies and requires defining the rules of engagement. 

Rules of engagement encourage thoughtful interaction since it is beneficial to the brand, business, peers, customers, and prospects in all spheres. In the end, users are capable of gaining the attention, benefit, and relationship that they yearn for through the use of social media. The rules of engagement demand that users identify all relevant communities of interest and observe the challenges wants, and impressions of people with respective networks. Moreover, users are encouraged to only participate in forums where their presence is mandatory and advantageous. In other words, it is not advisable to participate everywhere, anywhere, or in your domain. Another rule is to determine a brand's character, personality, and identity and match it with the persona of those representing it online. Users also ought to establish a point of contact online who are authentic. Finally, to ensure meaningful engagement with groups, it is essential to observe the behavioral cultures of each network and adjust accordingly. 

It is important to embody the qualities desired to project and instill them in a personal code of conduct to interact with others on social media sites effectively. In some cases, training might be required to equip individuals with skills to respond to communicate proactively and reactively. In the quest to establish meaningful connections, individuals should assess the frustrations and pain points and those of contentment. Since social media networks are meant for communication, individuals must act or participate in meaningful conversations. The idea is that individuals should be able to learn from each engagement they participate in. according to Wigley & Lewis (2012), individuals should always aspire to earn connections through empowering advocacy and collaboration. The communication channeled through social media should have a clear intent, and an individual's involvement should demonstrate the objective established for the social media platforms. Noteworthy, it is important to develop and nurture beneficial online relationships as long as doing so adds value to your quality of life. Additionally, one should develop programs that make them part of the day-to-day engagement.

The main objective of engaging in social media conversations is to partake in an open and respectful dialogue and share important information with the public. However, social media users must observe certain guidelines to achieve these objectives. Social media users should avoid personal issues and engage in open and honest conversations. For professional purposes, the social media pages should be perceived not to circumvent regular communication channels (Allan & Zelizer, 2004). More importantly, individuals should be respectful when engaging with their peers on social media. In other words, they should not engage in personal comments or attacks deemed offensive to community members. Profanity and inappropriate remarks are some issues that should be discouraged by those using social media. Whenever an individual wants to express their political ideas, market themselves, or market a product, it is best to create their page instead of using community pages for such activities. The reason is that there are some members of the community who may be frightened or uninterested in the message.

Social media users should stay on the topic when engaging others in discussions. For instance, pages dedicated to education matters should only relay content about education and nothing else. If an individual has an issue with a community member, they should not make this public but instead, contact them directly. Besides, people should avoid expecting responses to every question or comment posted on group pages. Before joining any group, individuals should have information about its mission. If the mission of a community is to support learning by students, members of that community must ensure that their comments are appropriate for educational purposes and appeals to people of all ages. In line with this, social media users should be factual about the content they share. Social media pages should discourage inaccurate information and punish members who share such information. Social media users should also avoid being offended if their requests for engagement are ignored or declined.  

Engagement is the key to becoming a successful social media user. Social media is here to stay and has penetrated even the world of children. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and WeChat have become extremely popular among children aged between 11 and 17. Social media is important for teenagers and children to stay connected and informed, complete school assignments, and communicate with friends. Some writers have suggested that children should be discouraged from using social media. However, this is a misled notion since social media has proven to benefit youth with the correct education, preparation, and supervision. Parents should, however, moderate their children's use of social media and serve as good examples to their children. For instance, they cannot advise children not to share their personal information when they take pictures of themselves in front of the children and post them on their social media handles. Parents and teachers who are ready to leverage the use of social media to the advantage of their children should observe certain rules of engagement. 

First, the child should be fully aware of their expectations, which should be discussed with parents and teachers. Secondly, children should acknowledge that social media is an important source of information that can help them complete their assignments and should use the tools for the same purpose. Third, they should observe the contacts they keep while using social media. Most importantly, as a general rule, parents and teachers must know what contacts their children keep on social media. The idea will serve as an important strategy to avoid issues of cyberbullying. Fourthly, the boundary for posting should be set for the children. In other words, there are certain contents that children should not be allowed to post on any social media platform. If the child engages an individual whose posts seem malicious, they should be advised to block or ignore them. The sixth point is that parents and teachers should ensure that they perform regular auditing and supervision of their children's accounts. Through this, they can monitor the ongoing activities and detect any malpractices before they occur.

Cyberbullying Impacts and Solutions

The term cyberbullying, in simple terms, means bullying using digital technologies through social media, gaming platforms, messaging platforms, and mobile phones. The term refers to repetitive behavior with the objective of shaming, scaring, and angering the targets. Some of the most common examples include posting embarrassing photos, spreading lies about an individual, or posting inappropriate videos of others on social media. The concept also encompasses sending threatening, abusive, and hurtful messages, videos, or images through the messaging social media platforms. Sending mean messages to others and impersonating someone else to send such messages on their behalf or using fake accounts also amount to cyberbullying (Burke & Kraut, 2008). The acts of cyberbullying may at times occur alongside face-to-face bullying. The difference is that cyberbullying leaves behind a digital footprint. The evidence left behind can be used to help stop the vice. One good example of cyberbullying is when a high school child is made fun of and taunted online by peers.

Another form of harassment that has been common on social media is cyberstalking, which refers to the act of continuously sending rude or threatening messages. Flaming is another online fight that often occurs through instant messaging, email, or other online platforms. Exclusion is when an individual is intentionally excluded from online conversations. In most cases, the conversation revolves around the excluded individual. Another popular form of cyberbullying is an outing, which involves the bully sharing pictures, videos, and information about the victim with the public on social media. Finally, masquerading refers to the act of bullying in which the bully creates a fake identity for the sake of harassing another individual anonymously. The act may also involve the bully impersonating another person and using their identity to send messages to another person. Since cyberbullying is an ultra-modern form of crime, it has proven very difficult to control.

Various signs are available to tell whether an individual is faced with the problem of cyberbullying. First, they are characterized by a drastic change in behavior. For instance, when a child is harassed by their peers online, they will tend to exclude themselves from others. Such children seldom play with their friends or engage in any activity. Additionally, they would skip classes or fail to go to school. When bullied by their colleagues, adults will not want to go to work for fear of embarrassment. Victims of cyberbullying are also identified when their rate of computer use decreases suddenly (Hoff & Mitchell, 2009). The behavior will suggest some form of fear of intimidation by the online community. Such victims are also marked by changes in their sleeping and eating habits which affect their general health status. Nonetheless, experts have identified the most significant sign of cyberbullying is when individuals suddenly withdraw from using technology without giving any reason. The withdrawal mainly affects the use of phones and computers.

Cyberbullying has a lot of long-term and short-term effects, especially on those who are affected. The notable essential effect of cyberbullying is the huge stress it causes victims. Furthermore, the acts of cyberbullying may lead to anxiety and depression. Therefore, cyberbullying is often associated with acts such as a sharp decrease in academic performance among children, low self-esteem, taking drugs and alcohol, feeling of sadness and loneliness, and suicidal thoughts. Therefore, it is clear that the effects of cyberbullying are not very far from the effects of the normal forms of bullying. For instance, normal bullies are often motivated by certain factors, including jealousy, anger, frustrations, narcissism, and boredom. Among students, the conditions experienced at home can lead them to take their frustrations to their peers. Therefore, such students are often encouraged to think carefully before posting pictures on social media. Besides, they should also employ security measures such as using security settings for passwords and giving out their mobile numbers only to close friends and families.

Although people might downplay the impacts of cyberbullying on the welfare of individuals, we should take extra care when dealing with this topic, especially concerning the young user of the internet. Although the phenomenon occurs in the virtual world, its effects are felt in the real world. Furthermore, the line between the effects of the real world and the virtual world's effects is blurred. Furthermore, even if there was no link between cyberbullying in the virtual world and real-world consequences, there is a real person who is affected and should be protected from bullying. For instance, among school-going children, it leads to high rates of school dropouts, a drop in academic performance, change in sleep and diet, low self-esteem, the use of alcohol and drugs, and increased risk of health problems. Since the effects of cyberbullying are the last aspects of the digital wave that people want for their livelihoods, it is imperative to ensure that the correct ethical guidelines and rules of engagement are observed.  

Solutions to Social Media Ethics and Cyberbullying

It is fundamental that social media users encounter various ethical issues that include stalking, privacy violations, and cyberbullying. All three social media issues have a significant impact on individual life; thus need for a solution that can help to curb them going in the future. The use of social media in the current world is growing rapidly and indicates that it greatly impacts people’s lives (Townsend & Wallace, 2017). Given that social media have become part of human life, there is a need to have a significant solution to curb issues such as ethics and cyberbullying as that will minimize the mental and privacy violations experienced today among the millennial generations. Although social media have been a part of people's lives, there has been increased abuse that has come from it, thus resulting in the need for solutions that can help curb unethical issues that have been contributed by it. For instance, ethical conduct is needed by those using social media platforms. Ethics is the first solution to curb social media's impact. It is clear that nowadays, everyone can share information and communicate directly by using social media, saving more time and entertaining those using it (Hoff & Mitchell, 2009). But what is ignored here when people use social media is its ethics. For example, young people have been the most affected by issues such as cyberbullying and stalking on the social media for a reason it is essential that people observe ethical standards when using the platforms as that will help to decrease the cases of mental illness among the young people due to exposure to social media. The effective social media user should respect others and strives never to get to the bad side of ethical conduct and the law. Therefore, it is unreasonable for individuals to give out their contacts to people there are not well acquainted with, even when they engage in conversation on social media. People must embrace ethics in communication, such as avoiding using abusive language when communicating with others. This can be addressed by having public awareness among most young people on social media, as that will help them avoid using abusive words during conversations internationally and unintentionally. As stated by Burke and Kraut (2008), parents should discourage their children from the habit of sending hurtful or shameful messages to their peers and revealing their passwords to others. Whenever one falls victim to cyberbullying, they should take evidence such as screenshots as essential sources to prosecute such acts. They should never delete such messages, unleash physical violence, or lash out at the bully. The reason is that showing such a reaction to the bully encourages them to continue with the act. Additionally, the victims should talk to other trusted persons about the occurrence. Most importantly, engaging in activities that keep the mind off the occurrences is advisable.

Also, social media users must avoid spreading violence, race, and other unethical issues on the media platform. This means that most of those using the social media platform should avoid spreading information related to certain religions or races. Furthermore, people should share useful information with the public and avoid conflict with others as that will help avoid cyberbullying. It is also evident that today is very common to find out news that disfigures other parties; thus, for that case, it is essential that as a social media user, you be more intelligent in capturing the information it has before share as that will help to check the validity of the news first (Abaido, 2020). Another essential solution to social media impacts is avoiding sharing personal information too much, as that will curb the possibility of people using your information to harm you. Therefore, to avoid issues such as stalking and cyberbullying on social media, you must use social media properly and wisely, more specifically, when spreading information.

Conclusion

The study aimed to examine how social media ethics and engagement rules can be important in the efforts to eliminate the problem of cyberbullying. The concept of social media ethics refers to the practice of dignity, respect, and integrity of self and those of others. Ethical behavior on social media refers to the behaviors that ought to be observed by social media users when engaging with others in online communication. On the other hand, the rules of engagement regarding social media users' protective strategies should adopt to ensure that they properly communicate with their peers and the community without causing ethical concerns. Cyberbullying spreads messages, pictures, and videos about individuals to harm, shame, or humiliate them. Cyberbullying is simply bullying in the digital form. Nevertheless, with practical social media ethics and rules of engagement, social media users can avoid numerous vices associated with communication through the sites. Therefore, future research must reiterate the adoption of suitable rules and guidelines for engagement and ethical conduct to ensure that individuals achieve the objectives of using social media. Also, it has been evident from the research that social media has made it easier to reach people in an easier way, but in the future research, it is important to find out the significant way to monitor and enable direct reporting of social media bullying incidents as that will help in promoting the responsive use of technology. It is also important in future research that social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook should adopt control measures that help to filter out offensive comments and hate speech to mitigate issues related to social media.

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