Ethical issues on truth and honesty

As the popularity of online social networking continues to rise, there are more and more businesses use social medias to build their presence on the internet. Although social media presents opportunities, it also raises ethical issues such as privacy, reputation, truth, and honesty. Among all ethical issues in social media today, truth and honesty concerns me most because false online information can be misleading in various ways.

The internet is so important that it has made information available in a quick and easy manner, publicly accessible and within easy reach. I believe that all of us, as students, using internet on a daily basis. We do research for our papers online; we update information about the world online; we chat with our friends online, and we even do online shopping. It is obvious that if the information we gathered from the web is false, our lifes can be a mess. For example, if a student cite a wrong statement from the internet for his/her research paper, their entire paper could be misleading, and they will receive a bad grade as a result.

Advertising with social media could also raise ethical issues. Businesses sometimes pretend to be a user to manipulate the product reviews and comments. I think this is an unethical behavior since people prefer to buy products that best fit their needs and wants. They do not need a product that does not match their expectation, so they research the product online before they actually buy it. Therefore, it is important to have accurate product reviews and "real" comments on the internet that can actually help buyers make their decisions. This is also one of the reason why truth and honesty concerns me most.