INTEGRITY IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

From time immemorial, integrity has become a symbol of good virtue of human civilisation. In fact, it is almost rare to find great thinkers or philosophers not mentioning about integrity in their lifetime. Heraclitus once said “Your integrity determines your destiny”. As such it is beyond any doubt that integrity plays an important aspect and become part and parcel of our lives. In a nutshell, according to Cambridge Dictionary, the word integrity means “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”. However, according to L.W.J.C Huberts, based on the literature on ethics and integrity, there are at least eight different possible perspectives for the concept of integrity.

Be that as it may, is integrity still relevant and important in this day and age in the modern working environment/workplace? I am of the view the integrity among the employees and employers has become more pertinent due to the decentralisation of social networks or social media such as Facebook and Twitter in the hands of its’ users coupled with the phenomenon called as media convergence.

This shift has given enormous freedom to its users and at the same time become major communication tool across the world in all aspects of our lives which includes communication at working environment/places.

Since, the new technological advancements have given autonomy to its users, self-control and discipline is very much needed to preserve integrity among the workers and their employers within their institution and the institutions integrity at public at large.

This is because the online social media platforms can be abused or misused by its users directly or indirectly causing the users’ or the institutions’ reputation and integrity to go in the vain.  For instance, with a press of a keyboard, an employees of an institution can opt to use his or her online social media platform to vent his or her anger or dissatisfaction about working colleague or the management of the institution. Such negative expression of the colleague and or the institution could eventually cause trial by social media platform users without knowing the full picture of the events leading to the social media postings. The spread of the postings in the social media is so fast and swift that by the time the true version is surfaced the integrity and reputation of the colleague or the institution is irretrievably damaged.

An example of such episode of abuse or misuse of social media platform is about a tale of a postman allegedly not getting Aidilfitri bonus which caught the attention of the Malaysian social media platform users. Due to this outcry, Pos Malaysia was forced to come up with a media statement explaining the truth. Surprisingly, the postman who was allegedly cried in the video shared in the social media was arrested for illegally collecting funds based on the alleged tale.

As such to avoid such embarrassing situation, it is pertinent to have workplace policies in place to curb or refrain employees or management to resort to online social media platforms.

Further, it is also good to have workplace training and education session to inculcate best practice of online social media platform usage among employees and management.

As a conclusion, it is beyond any doubt that online social media platforms have become part and parcel of everyone’s life. As such, proper education and training is inevitable to curb abuses and misuses of online social media platforms in the employees – management environment/workplace settings to maintain their integrity within the organisation and public at large.

Pungkulali Sothivelr

Finance Executive

KPJ Klang Specialist Hospital

[1] https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/integrity-quotes/

[2] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/integrity

[3] Integrity: What it is and Why it is Important by L. W. J. C. Huberts, ISSN: 1099-9922 (Print) 1558-0989 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/mpin20

[4] Media convergence, phenomenon involving the interconnection of information and communications technologies, computer networks, and media content. It brings together the “three C’s” – computing, communication, and content – and is a direct consequence of the digitization of media content and the popularization of the Internet. Media convergence transforms established industries, services, and work practices and enables entirely new forms of content to emerge – https://www.britannica.com/topic/media-convergence

[5] https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/05/22/postman-who-cried-he-didnt-get-bonus-arrested-for-collecting-funds/