Ethical, Social, and Security Issues in the Online Network Ecosystems

Ethics refers to the principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use to make choices to guide their behaviors. In todays new legal environment, managers who violate the law and are convicted will most likely spend time in prison. Ethical, social, and political issues are closely linked. This chapter discusses the new realities of global computer online social network ecosystems, including moral and ethical dilemmas. Because we believe that a sound and detailed discussion of online social networks is based on a good understanding of the underlying network infrastructure, we start the chapter with a brief discussion of the computer network infrastructure. Based on this communication infrastructure, we define a social network and its subset, the online social network. In the networking process we note that routinely information collected from online community members, however, is not always used as intended. It is quite often used for unauthorized purposes, hence an invasion of privacy. We discuss known ways we give off vital personal information while online in social networks. We further discuss ways to protect personal privacy. The complexity, unpredictability, and lack of central authority are further enhanced by a concept of telepresence and engagement, virtual personality, anonymity, and multiple personality. These issues are at the core of the social and ethical problems in online social networks in particular and cyberspace in general; the larger and more numerous these communities become, the more urgent the ethical concerns become.