{"id":64,"date":"2022-04-04T15:50:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T15:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/chapter\/being-ethical-online\/"},"modified":"2022-04-19T14:57:16","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T14:57:16","slug":"being-ethical-online","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/chapter\/being-ethical-online\/","title":{"raw":"Being Ethical Online","rendered":"Being Ethical Online"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe how to communicate ethically online<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<blockquote>If it says so online, it must be true!<\/blockquote>\r\nThat\u2019s the joke of researching and reporting facts you find on the internet. If you believe everything you see out there, then you might believe that the United States has a giant \u201cearthquake gun\u201d and that Bat Boy was an advisor to the Clinton White House. Some of these less-than-subtle fibs are easy to spot and debunk. But other so-called facts aren\u2019t as easy to spot and can sneak into our business communications if we\u2019re not diligent in our fact checking.\r\n\r\nInternet ethics are multi-faceted and far reaching. There are ethics to consider when you post to the internet. There are more ethics to consider when you use information you found on the internet. The internet provides all kinds of opportunity to trip up good communicators and drop them right into the middle of an ethical conundrum. Post information online with caution, and always be skeptical about the information you find there!\r\n<h2>Posting<\/h2>\r\nDon\u2019t post non-factual information on the internet, and if you do, promptly correct errors. When you post information online on behalf of your business, you owe your co-workers and all your external readers truthful information. When you communicate, you work hard to develop a relationship of trust with your audience, whether they\u2019re reading you or listening to you speak. Passing along information that\u2019s not trustworthy is damaging to your reputation as much as it\u2019s damaging to your message.\r\n\r\nDon\u2019t post questionable information anonymously. Just because you don\u2019t put your name on it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not responsible for facilitating an incorrect, untruthful message. Again, you\u2019re damaging the level of trust you\u2019ve developed for yourself as well as a reader\u2019s trust in the information.\r\n\r\nBe careful about sharing proprietary information, information that violates patient confidentiality or attorney-client privilege. We talked a little earlier about how the lines between professional and personal communications are blurring. It\u2019s easy to make a mistake and post a picture of yourself and your patient and say, \u201cThat kidney transplant has been very successful!\u201d Even if you work for the Cleveland Clinic, that\u2019s not appropriate unless you have the correct forms from the patient saying it\u2019s okay to release that information. \u00a0In addition, if you\u2019re a lawyer and your client posts something on your Facebook wall about his trial, that\u2019s also not terribly ethical. Don\u2019t leave it up on your wall. Take it down and contact your client by phone.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/8497\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Using Materials from the Internet<\/h2>\r\nFact check information you pull off the internet. Sources like trusted news magazines and newspapers (e.g., <em>The New York Times<\/em>, <em>The Economist<\/em>, etc.) usually don\u2019t publish until their facts have been checked and verified, but if you find information on John Doe\u2019s website, you should definitely research that data further. It\u2019s your duty to your reader and your company to report data correctly.\r\n\r\nDon\u2019t take things off the internet and use them as your own. If you do not acquire written material, images or video someone else has posted to the internet in an appropriate manner, you are stealing\u2014and stealing is unethical. Now, there is such a thing as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/title17\/92chap1.html#107\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fair use<\/a>,\u201d which makes it okay to use these materials for the purpose of \"criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research\u2026\u201d If you fall into one of those categories, you\u2019re safe. Otherwise, your use of the material is considered a violation of copyright law. Look for the \u201ccreative commons\u201d distinction on images and video to confirm that it\u2019s appropriate for shared use.\r\n<h2>Contribute!<\/h2>\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">Did you have an idea for improving this content? We\u2019d love your input.<\/div>\r\n<a style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-weight: 600; color: #077fab; text-decoration: none; border: 2px solid #077fab; border-radius: 7px; padding: 5px 25px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/14IBkrIGECcviIwow6nrI8bEIT8Rmsj_DpoUh2CSV7AQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Improve this page<\/a><a style=\"margin-left: 16px;\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1vy-T6DtTF-BbMfpVEI7VP_R7w2A4anzYZLXR8Pk4Fu4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn More<\/a>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe how to communicate ethically online<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>If it says so online, it must be true!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s the joke of researching and reporting facts you find on the internet. If you believe everything you see out there, then you might believe that the United States has a giant \u201cearthquake gun\u201d and that Bat Boy was an advisor to the Clinton White House. Some of these less-than-subtle fibs are easy to spot and debunk. But other so-called facts aren\u2019t as easy to spot and can sneak into our business communications if we\u2019re not diligent in our fact checking.<\/p>\n<p>Internet ethics are multi-faceted and far reaching. There are ethics to consider when you post to the internet. There are more ethics to consider when you use information you found on the internet. The internet provides all kinds of opportunity to trip up good communicators and drop them right into the middle of an ethical conundrum. Post information online with caution, and always be skeptical about the information you find there!<\/p>\n<h2>Posting<\/h2>\n<p>Don\u2019t post non-factual information on the internet, and if you do, promptly correct errors. When you post information online on behalf of your business, you owe your co-workers and all your external readers truthful information. When you communicate, you work hard to develop a relationship of trust with your audience, whether they\u2019re reading you or listening to you speak. Passing along information that\u2019s not trustworthy is damaging to your reputation as much as it\u2019s damaging to your message.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t post questionable information anonymously. Just because you don\u2019t put your name on it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not responsible for facilitating an incorrect, untruthful message. Again, you\u2019re damaging the level of trust you\u2019ve developed for yourself as well as a reader\u2019s trust in the information.<\/p>\n<p>Be careful about sharing proprietary information, information that violates patient confidentiality or attorney-client privilege. We talked a little earlier about how the lines between professional and personal communications are blurring. It\u2019s easy to make a mistake and post a picture of yourself and your patient and say, \u201cThat kidney transplant has been very successful!\u201d Even if you work for the Cleveland Clinic, that\u2019s not appropriate unless you have the correct forms from the patient saying it\u2019s okay to release that information. \u00a0In addition, if you\u2019re a lawyer and your client posts something on your Facebook wall about his trial, that\u2019s also not terribly ethical. Don\u2019t leave it up on your wall. Take it down and contact your client by phone.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_8497\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=8497&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_8497\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Using Materials from the Internet<\/h2>\n<p>Fact check information you pull off the internet. Sources like trusted news magazines and newspapers (e.g., <em>The New York Times<\/em>, <em>The Economist<\/em>, etc.) usually don\u2019t publish until their facts have been checked and verified, but if you find information on John Doe\u2019s website, you should definitely research that data further. It\u2019s your duty to your reader and your company to report data correctly.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t take things off the internet and use them as your own. If you do not acquire written material, images or video someone else has posted to the internet in an appropriate manner, you are stealing\u2014and stealing is unethical. Now, there is such a thing as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/title17\/92chap1.html#107\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fair use<\/a>,\u201d which makes it okay to use these materials for the purpose of &#8220;criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research\u2026\u201d If you fall into one of those categories, you\u2019re safe. Otherwise, your use of the material is considered a violation of copyright law. Look for the \u201ccreative commons\u201d distinction on images and video to confirm that it\u2019s appropriate for shared use.<\/p>\n<h2>Contribute!<\/h2>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">Did you have an idea for improving this content? We\u2019d love your input.<\/div>\n<p><a style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-weight: 600; color: #077fab; text-decoration: none; border: 2px solid #077fab; border-radius: 7px; padding: 5px 25px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/14IBkrIGECcviIwow6nrI8bEIT8Rmsj_DpoUh2CSV7AQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Improve this page<\/a><a style=\"margin-left: 16px;\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1vy-T6DtTF-BbMfpVEI7VP_R7w2A4anzYZLXR8Pk4Fu4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn More<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-64\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Being Ethical Online. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":395986,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Being Ethical Online\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"d4f8a620-35dc-4c42-8b50-e862da9ae14c, 15659eaa-b175-4053-a8ff-6a2e07e6ac3d","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-64","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":53,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/395986"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64\/revisions\/436"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/53"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/esc-businesscomskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}