Is libraries' use of social media ethical? A phenomenographic investigation of Twitter (X) use at the Bodleian Libraries
| Date | 29 August 2024 |
| Pages | 1660-1689 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2023-0246 |
| Published date | 29 August 2024 |
| Author | Ross Jones,Briony Birdi |
Is libraries’use of social media
ethical? A phenomenographic
investigation of Twitter (X) use
at the Bodleian Libraries
Ross Jones
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, and
Briony Birdi
Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Social media (SM) has been heavily criticised in recent years for its damaging effects on societies
globally. Tasked with empowering those same societies, libraries’continued use of SM is considered ethically
contentious. This study presents the findings of a University of Sheffield study that investigated the ethical
tension between libraries and their use of SM by aiming to establish whether: (1) libraries’use of SM is ethically
motivated; (2) ethicallyinformed; (3) and compatible with codes of ethics in the Library and Information Science
(LIS) sector.
Design/methodology/approach –A phenomenographic approach was employed to gather and analyse the
data for this study, which is drawn from the transcripts of seven online interviews with Bodleian Libraries staff
who used Twitter, now X, in a professional capacity.
Findings –Three categories of description were identified among participants: (1) Collectivist conception; (2)
Settled conception; (3) Quest ioning conception. The catego ries are bound by a shared context of
conceptualisation made up of a small set of internal and external influences discussed in the interviews
which affected all participants to varying degrees.
Originality/value –The findings were used to support the following determinations: (1) Libraries’use of SM
is ethically motivated. (2) Libraries’use of SM is ethically informed, in part. Due to lack of evidence, no
determination was made about whether libraries’use of SM is compatible with codes of ethics in the LIS sector.
Recommendations for LIS professions and professional bodies are offered based on these determinations.
Keywords Libraries, Librarianship, Ethics, Social media, Twitter, X, Phenomenography
Paper type Research paper
Introduction: the case against social media
In recent years, social media (SM) companies have come under scrutiny for their role in the
propagation of misleading and harmful content on their platforms (Deibert, 2019); numerous
allegations have been levelled at this novel communications ecosystem for facilitating online
activity detrimental to the wellbeing of societies globally. In 2021, the President of the United
States suggested that SM misinformation was “killing people”and criticised companies’
inability to effectively suppress the spread of COVID-19 falsehoods (BBC News, 2021).
Separately, a growing body of evidence indicates that platforms such as Twitter, now X[1],
have been leveraged in the perpetration of human rights abuses, specifically against women
and minorities (Amnesty International, 2018;Criss et al., 2021).
Experts trace the problem to a flawed, for-profit business model –developed by Google
but adopted by other SM companies –that seeks to monetise the attention and personal
information of users, while attacking, ignoring or circumventing pertinent rights and laws in
JD
80,6
1660
The authors would like to thank the Bodleian Libraries staff who made this study possible, particularly
the Bodleian Staff Development Librarian, Emma Sullivan, who circulated the screening questionnaire
and those who subsequently came forward to complete it and offer their time for interview.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 26 November 2023
Revised 28 May 2024
Accepted 12 June 2024
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 80 No. 6, 2024
pp. 1660-1689
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-11-2023-0246
place to protect those same users (Zuboff, 2019). In response, academics, journalists, whistle-
blowers and even royalty have sounded the alarm over SM’s perceived pathologies (Marsh,
2021;Seymour, 2019;Vaidhyanathan, 2018;Wylie, 2019), while governments, NGOs and
international institutions have taken steps to combat the multifaceted threat posed to
democratic principles of truth, trust, accountability, representation and freedom online (The
Economist, 2020;UNESCO, 2021;International Grand Committee on Disinformation, 2022).
Problem statement
Amid a chorus of disapproval, the question may be asked whether libraries’continued
presence on these platforms is ethically justified, premised on the notion that a fundamental
tension exists between the central tenets of library work on the one hand and libraries’use of
SM on the other. By way of illustration, Table 1 juxtaposes libraries’key missions as
summarised by Ovenden (2020a),Bodley’s Librarian, wi th some of the challenges
perpetuated by SM:
These contrasts suggest an ideological misalignment between libraries and SM, yet
strikingly SM remains a popular way for libraries to disseminate information, market
services and otherwise engage with their communities (Deodato, 2018).
SM and libraries’relationship with SM are problematised from this perspective as a means
to justify the line of enquiry as outlined in the Aim. The authors recognise that this approach
precludes a more complex assessment of the library-SM relationship through the omission of
a fuller, more balanced accounting of SM’s utility and it is acknowledged that the
characterisations thus provided may be reasonably contested. Twitter’s own publicity
materials, for example, describe it instead as “committed to the open exchange of
information”[2] with a stated purpose “to serve the public conversation”[3]. It is for this
reason that while the study draws attention to some of the many serious allegations levelled
Libraries Social media
1. Support the education of society as a whole and
of specific communities within it
2. Provide a diversity of knowledge and ideas
3. Support the well-being of citizens and the
principles of the open society through the
preservation of key rights and through
encouraging integrity in decision-making
4. Provide a fixed reference point, allowing truth
and falsehood to be judged through
transparency, verification, citation and
reproducibility
5. Root societies in their cultural and historical
identities through preserving the written record
of those societies and cultures
(adapted from Ovenden, 2020a, p. 225)
1. Enable the spread of misinformation and
disinformation, which undermines the education
of society
2. Hyper-personalise services, reinforcing biases
and stoking divisiveness (Sunstein, 2018)
3. Implement addictive features causing excessive
use, negatively affecting the memory, mood,
sociability and attention of citizens (Sheldon,
2019)
4. Treat information as an ephemeral commodity.
Continually refreshed feeds and disappearing
content make it difficult to verify and reproduce
information (Ovenden, 2020b). The decision taken
by companies not to disclose their practices
makes their operation opaque
5. Unilaterally preserve, promote or suppress the
information they gather, justifying this with
continually revised terms of service. This
jeopardises the cultural and historical identities of
societies (The Economist, 2020)
Source(s): Table by authors
Table 1.
The missions of
libraries and the
challenges of social
media compared
Journal of
Documentation
1661
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting