Background thoughts: It is almost a universally acknowledged fact that social media marketing is indeed effective. On social media platform, target audience can be easily reached, and brand recognition can be increased significantly.

However, the most effective social media marketing strategies rely on the use of personal data, as knowing the customers needs, interests, preferences, and choices help businesses to turn the marketing messages into real revenues.

However, Social media marketing blends the personal with the professional in an unprecedented way and gives businesses incredibly intimate data about consumers. Privacy concerns surrounding Facebook, Apple, and Google have flooded the news recently, bringing to light questions about the digital age, data, and privacy. My research interests is to explore the ethical issues surrounding social media marketing strategies.
2. [POSSIBLE] Topics to cover:
a) Strategies in social media marketing
b) Why is social media marketing effective
c) Intimate data, and the obtaining of intimate data by companies such as Facebook, Apple, and Google, as well as the changes in their privacy polices.
d) What will the future be? Can ethical companies thrive?