Purpose:

The purpose of this task is to encourage students to explore a variety of ethical theories and apply them to a contemporary ethical issue in an area of social computing.

Learning Outcomes:

The following learning outcomes are reinforced in the completion of this task: K1, K2, K4, S3, A1 and A2.

Background:

According to Turban et al (2012) a social network is a place where people create their own space, or homepage, on which they write blogs; post pictures, videos, or music; share ideas; and link to other Web locations they find interesting. Business-oriented social networks (BOSN) also known as professional social networks are social networks whose primary objective is to facilitate business. Currently the main difference between a social network and a BOSN is the purpose of their use, although this distinction is becoming blurred.

The size of social networking sites is growing rapidly, with some having over 100 million members (Turban et al, 2012). Whilst the rapid expansion of BOSN's have brought many benefits to individuals and organisations such as marketing, advertising and communication, there are also many issues associated with their use such as security, privacy, misuse etc.

Requirements:

Students are required to undertake an ethical analysis of issues associated with social online networks in a professional (business) context. Students will prepare a business style report of approximately 2000 words, which analyses social online networks through the lens of each of the FOUR (4) ethical philosophies presented in lectures, and ONE (1) element selected from the Australian Computer Society's (ACS) code of ethics.

When analysing social online networks, consider ONE (1) of the following ethical dilemmas:

• Are the capabilities and services provided by online social networks appropriate?
• Who should govern online social networks?
• How can the use of online social networks benefit individuals, organisations and/or the community?
• What are the issues associated with the use of online social networks for individuals, organisations and/or the community?

For assistance in report writing techniques, see: http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4b.html

A suggested report structure is as follows.

- title page

- executive summary

- table of contents

- introduction

- ethical analysis of online social networks

o utilitarianism
o deontology
o social contract
o character based
o ACS code of ethics

- conclusion