Idea Lab
Discussing Library Social Media Ethics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jloe.v3.1235Keywords:
social media, Library Marketing, intellectual freedomAbstract
In recent years, social media companies like Twitter (or “X”) and Meta have come under scrutiny. These companies face data leaks, provide platforms for hate speech and disinformation, promote unchecked echo chambers, and are becoming increasingly predatory. Still, many libraries continue to use these platforms as a convenient tool to reach their users. Considering these ethical challenges, we sent out a call for contributions targeted to LIS professionals and students that asked, “should librarians and libraries walk our digital footprints away from exploitative platforms?” Potential authors were encouraged to consider the following topics and questions:
- As information professionals, do we have a responsibility to our users to lead by example and stop lending our credibility to troubling products?
- What other platforms (Mastodon, post.com, Bluesky, etc.) are you using or considering as Twitter alternatives and why? How effective are they?
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Copyright (c) 2023 Stephanie Diaz, Jenna Freedman, Dorothea Salo, Elizabeth Portelli, Meredith Weston Kostek, Robert Truman, Misty Trunnell
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.