Social Media Analytics in Predicting Consumer Behavior

Chapter 9 Ethics and Social Media Analytics

Dr. Hamayoun Ghafourzay

Faculty of Economics, Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan

1. Introduction

Social Networking Websites (SNWs) have been termed “a social scientist’s wet dream” (Halavais, referenced in Parry and Chase 2011). However, they also bring distinct ethical issues for academics and practitioners seeking to highlight the benefits they provide. These sites raise multifaceted methodological and ethical issues and a debate about the appropriate ethical measures for research aimed at online discourses. Even though SNWs function freely online, among the most important debates is that networked public forums should not be regarded as public forums. They are both personal and communal rules, ...