Social technology professionals, such as journalists, bloggers, marketers, publicists, and others, need a strong Code of Ethics to take their rightful place in the ranks of recognized, legitimate professions. This proposed Code of Ethics would help social technology professionals achieve that goal

1. Code of Ethics
for Social Technology Professionals

2. Is social
technology a
profession?

3. Claiming our rightful place

4. Who is a social
technology
professional?

5. blogger
journalist
publicist
marketer
researcher

6. What does a
code of ethics do?

7. Prescribes
Behavior

8. Proscribes
behavior

9. Identifies
Values

10. The Code of
Ethics for Social
Technology
Professionals

11. Introduction
Social technology professionals have a responsibility
to the public and to their profession to provide
accurate information in a spirit of full disclosure.

12. Guiding Principles
Strive to be accurate in the information you
provide about yourself, organizations you represent,
and others.

13. Guiding Principles
Foster trust in social technology by engaging in
behavior that encourages and enhances the open
and free exchange of ideas.

14. Guiding Principles
Avoid any action or inaction that could cause harm
to others.

15. Standards of Behavior
Accuracy
Always present information in the most accurate,
straightforward manner possible.
Promptly correct any inaccurate information that you
are responsible for disseminating.
Promptly respond to any inaccurate comments about
or inaccurate responses to information that you are
responsible for disseminating.

16. Standards of Behavior
Accuracy
Always identify yourself and who you represent
accurately, honestly, and transparently.
Avoid any deceptive or misleading practices.

17. Standards of Behavior
Fair Use
Whenever possible, link to the work of others that
you are quoting, commenting on, or using within the
legal provisions of fair use.
Always credit the sources of information that did not
originate with you, unless the sources consent
otherwise.

18. Standards of Behavior
Fair Treatment
Treat all members of the community with dignity and
respect.
Never single out individuals or groups for inequitable
treatment based on an immutable characteristic, such
as race, gender, nationality, age, disability or sexual
orientation.

19. Standards of Behavior
Transparency
Disclose any commercial or personal relationships
that you have with people or organizations relevant
to content you create.
Disclose any remuneration, including free or
discounted products or services, that you receive in
exchange for reviewing, discussing, or commenting on
products or services, or their competition.

20. Standards of Behavior
Transparency
Avoid providing special treatment to sponsors or
advertisers, and if special treatment is provided,
clearly identify it as such.
Clearly differentiate between advertising and editorial
content.

21. Standards of Behavior
Professionalism
Always act in the best interest of your client, unless
doing so would violate another standard in the Code
of Ethics.
Avoid any actions or relationships that could be
perceived as presenting a conflict of interest or would
be detrimental to free and fair decisionmaking.

22. Standards of Behavior
Professionalism
Accurately describe both the potential risks and
potential benefits of any work that you do on behalf
of a client.
Always abide by both the spirit and letter of any laws
and regulations that apply to your work.

23. Who will enforce
the code?

24. Current infrastructure

25. Proposed infrastructure

26. Image Credits
flickr.com/blmurch flickr.com/sjcockell flickr.com/hayleygee
chromoz.com flickr.com/proimos flickr.com/hayleygee
Ethics Resources
prsa.org marketingpower.com ieee.org
spj.org dsa.org cyberjournalist.net
ala.org apa.org
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