Facebook Presents an Ethical Conundrum

Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world today. If it was a real country full of real people, it would have the 3^rd largest population. This presents a very real conundrum (or puzzle) for many employers as to whether or not they should allow their employees to have access to this website during their working hours.  

Facebook can be very addictive and as you scroll around the people and advertisements, a person or a business can end up wasting a lot of time for very little benefit. People in this digital world of friends online may or may not, be what they present themselves as being.  Today with the technical ‘know-how’ that many geeks have, they are able to develop personas to match what they are trying to sell. For any serious and off-line business person, this represents a clear and emerging danger to a small business person’s profit margin. 

The ethics of creating a Persona to match the target audience:

Creating a persona to match your target market is not ethical in my (not so) humble opinion simply because it is deceitful. Any deceit in business today is abhorrent and should be totally avoided.   It is possible to emphasise and relate to your target market without resorting to creating someone or something that isn’t real. When the customer ends up buying from you and then finds out that you aren’t who or what you first presented yourself as being, they will feel cheated and deceived. 

These feelings will persist and it will be very unlikely they will follow you if you have a list or they will not buy from you again simply because you can no longer be trusted.  People who invent a persona through digital means to attract their target market initially will fail in the long run. Frankly, I think you may need to ask if doing business this way is worth the hassle and heartbreak.

Unethical behaviour in every shape and form will always eventually fail. Short term gain for long term loss is not a good business model. 

Facebook’s other conundrum

Another conundrum for employers to come to grips with today is the time factor that employees will spend on Facebook.

 If an employer allows their employees to use Facebook  as part of their job description or requirements it is unrealistic to expect them not to login and keep an eye on their own account. But the amount of hours they could spend on their own Facebook account is being done while you pay them. Do you as an employer really want to be paying people to keep up with their friends?  Isn’t this stealing time from you? 

When a person is employed they are selling you their time and expertise.  Any time they are working on your time but not your business, they are effectively stealing from you.