PR & Social Media Ethics

I took the course “Ethics in Public Relations” at the Mount Saint Vincent University, and this was my final presentation:

Title

PR & Social media ethics
Implications of the digital age on ethical standards in PR

Introduction

“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws” (Plato) – this quote summarizes the dilemma with ethical codes. After all, a code of ethics is “a profession’s contract with the society it serves” (Parsons, 2008, p. 64). But are these guidelines to be seen as minimum standards or as ideals? Or is it in the case of PR rather a way of professionalizing an unprofessional occupation (p. 65)? However, the PR industry has to ask itself a new set of ethical questions as emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) enter the arena of corporate communications. Various platforms and networks – often referred to with the umbrella term “Social media” – offer new opportunities of engaging with different audiences. What implications do these new opportunities of the digital age have on ethical standards in the PR profession? In any case, one might be well advised to incorporate Google’s famous introduction to their investor relations code of conduct: “Don’t be evil.” (Google Inc., 2012)

Here’s the prezi about my paper:

• academia
• english
• msvu
• pr
• social media

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