Is it ethical for market researchers to monitor conversations on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube? This presentation given at the Rochester Institute of Technology Fall 2011 SMACS conference by Media Professor and author Robert Berkman examines these issues.

1. Robert Berkman, Asst. Professor of
Communication Studies, Keuka College
SMACS Symposium September 29 2011
YOU CAN OBSERVE A LOT
FROM WATCHING—
-- YOGI BERRA
…you can also hear a lot by listening

2. The Ethics of
Social Media Monitoring

3. What is Social Media Monitoring?
 Accessing (“Scraping”) publicly available posts and
comments in aggregate from Internet users on social
media sites; e.g.
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Blogs
 YouTube
 Consumer Review Sites
 Internet Discussion Boards
 Other

4. Why So Popular?
 Authentic viewpoints
 Grassroots opinion
 Unprompted views
 Can be cheaper than surveys, focus groups
 Consumers not “expecting” marketers and
researchers to be listening.
….and therein lies the rub…..

5. What do Net Users Know?
June 2010. Source:
http://blog.vovici.com/blog/bid/28663/Consumer-Attitudes-towards-Social-Media-Market-Research-casrotech

6. How Does it Work?

7. Not Really A New Issue…
USENET  2 Key Ethical Questions:
Bulletin
Boards
Online Groups  Arethe Posts Public?—that’s OK.
Web Boards Or are they Private—that’s not
ListServ OK.
Archives
 Can
Any Harm Be Done by
Aggregating This Information?

8. The Matter of Private v Public
 Private: From Latin privatus “set apart,” “belonging to
oneself” (not to the state), used in contrast to publicus,
communis.
 Public:
From Latin publicus. “pertaining to the people.”
Meaning "open to all in the community" from 1540s
(Source: Online Etymology Dictionary)

9. So….on the Social Web…
Tweets, YouTube videos, blog posts Facebook Groups,
Facebook “Pages”; consumer review site comments and
Facebook Walls (if left open and public) ARE IN FACT
PUBLIC…
AND IF WHEN DATA IS COLLECTED…
 Individuals are NOT Personally Identifiable
 (Gathered in Aggregate)
THEN…

10. Such Research Cannot be Categorized
as “Unethical”
 That is:
 It is not deceptive, does not invade personal privacy,
nor does it cause any obvious harm*
HOWEVER!
* There are arguments that all marketing that categorizes people and uses data to sell products or
services to a defined group is intrusive, annoying, and an anathema to a good public life, but that
argument goes beyond the technique of using social media.

11. SMM Still Requires
Guidelines and Codes
 Why?
 Yes, the conversation is public—but meant for a certain
audience; so when others listen in it may be:
 Considered impolite/eavesdropping/feel intrusive
 Consider the Danish term: intimsfære in Danish "personal
space" or "private life” Not private nor public

12. Suggested SMM Code of Conduct
 No Deception
 Pretending to be someone you are not
 Research in the guise of marketing
 Do not use “walled garden” data (e.g. must join,
register, go through other gates)
 Take precautions against accidental exposure
 Be extra careful with “sensitive” information
 Do not use quotations or other material that could
be traced back to an individual
 Be aware that people are more than their narrow
social media “footprint”

13. What’s Next? What’s Now?
 Geo-location Market Research
 Face Recognition Technologies
 Public Video Chats?
(eg Google+ Hangout)
 Will continually need to revisit ethics
and new technologies

14. When in Doubt…2 Basic Rules
 Golden Rule—How would you feel?
 Would you care if what you were doing was
published in tomorrow’s newspaper?

15. Thank You!
Robert Berkman
Asst. Professor, Communication Studies
Keuka College, Keuka Park, NY
Editor, The Information Advisor
Co-Author: Digital Dilemmas: Ethical Issues
for New Media Professionals (Blackwell)