Ethical Implications of Social Networking

Tacoma Community College's Center for Ethical Development asked me to take part in a panel discussion titled "Internet Privacy? Ethical Implications of Social Networking." Panelists joining me included Valerie Zeeck, a partner in the law firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell Malanca and Dahiem, who specializes in employment law and litigation; Eva Frey Johnson, director of Student Involvement and Leadership/Diversity Center at Pacific Lutheran University; and Sean VanDommelen, a student leader at Tacoma Community College.

For the framework of the discussion, I wanted to make sure we focused on what I refer to as "social mapping" versus the marketing term "social networking." Social mapping in my mind is the ability to map the degrees of relationship between individuals existing within a network. Social networking covers a wide range of different technologies empowering folks to create content and share/interact with one another.

I believe this technology is not a fad and will profoundly change the way that future generations will interact. New social norms are already developing around both social networking and social mapping. My daughter (currently age 3) will grow up in a world where she knows exactly to whom she maps to in order to find resources, jobs, content, media, etc. In her lifetime she will live in a world where a vast majority of humanity is indexed.

This of course leads to the ethical questions of....

How will the ideas of privacy and individuality be shaped when we exist as publicly viewable individuals? Will we completely open up our lives, or close them down in reaction to exposure?

I tend to think we are witnessing a world homogenization wherein we all begin to finally tolerate and understand one another. This typically only happens with exposure. With a digital presence, we now can be exposed without physically traveling. This process started before the advent of this technology, but I think social networking/mapping will accelerate it and give it wings.

In a human existance where we are all mapped and communication is instantaneous, how will social structures evolve? Will this level the field or create those who are Linked"in" versus Konnected?

I certainly hope we accept the fact that we are all konnected, and that we need to be open to helping one another "surf the human web" that is evolving through this space.....

I am throwing these thoughts out there to create a dialogue....how do you feel on the subject? The future is what we make it. Collaboration and dialogue are key to making anything happen. Nothing great is ever accomplished alone.

I hope you join me in this discussion.....Are you excited about this technology, or do you have concerns? What do you like or dislike about the current technology players in the space? How do you think it will evolve over time?