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In light of the recent news surrounding Facebook’s shady involvement in the data-mining scandal, a question has become more relevant than ever, what responsibility do we have to our clients and followers as creative entrepreneurs?
When creativity sparks a business venture and the creation becomes a business itself we no longer have a personal responsibility to art only, we have a responsibility to the people that use and trusts our product or services.
The creative entrepreneur's greatest asset is the trust of her followers and clients. Share on XAs the facts unravel, it’s become evident that Facebook kept a blind eye to Cambridge Analytica’s unethical mining of personal information from their users, those who had been told and agreed to participate in the surveys as research subjects and those who did not.
What’s most disconcerting to us is not so much the use of personal information disclosed on Facebook; by now we’ve all experienced the “wonder” of re-targeting from that and other platforms. No, they are not inside our minds, yet, they are just following the digital crumbs we scatter all around the web on a search-to-search basis. What’s most troubling is that Facebook was so willing to let a third party have its way with the minds of its users.
As a creative venture grows it cannot lose sight of the ethical practices that raised them to the top. And as creative entrepreneurs, we are our own enterprise. We do have as big a responsibility with our own followers and fans as the big fish in the pond.
What’s your creative responsibility as an entrepreneur?
- Respect your user/client/follower
- Protect the best interest of your user/client/follower
- Protect the core values of your enterprise/your brand
These three essential elements are expected of the giants like Facebook and of the small one-person ventures, from the CEOs and the DBAs.
The products and services we create and develop do not exist in a vacuum, they have one purpose: to be used, enjoyed and shared by people. Behind each tech innovation, there’re people. Behind every user profile, there’re people. Improving people’s lives is at the core of all creation. And our responsibility as creatives is to fulfill that promise. Keep that trust.
