Age of Users
One of our primary ethical concerns, is whether or not there should be a minimum age limit for the users of our application. Many social networking sites have an age restriction, of predominantly around 13 years of age, and this is stringently written into their terms and conditions. However, due to the sensitive nature of our application, and the fact we would initially be monitoring it, concerns were raised as to whether or not 13 would be too young of a demographic for us to moderate. Thus, it was our initial idea to tailor the application solely for over 18s, and then should the application become popular, we could consider revising our age restrictions. However, when taking into account the context of age and maturity, it is feasible to assume that some teenage users may be extremely mature, and only benefit from making connections with other teenagers they can relate too. Thus, we decided the minimum age we would have for users to sign up to The Story of Us would be 16.
Marketing
The Web has transformed industries on a universal scale, and funeral businesses are not immune from the transformation of technology. There are several key issues we need to bear in mind when marketing The Story of Us. Firstly, it is important we understand the contrasting needs of our customer demographic and the diverse needs our users will have. Equally, we need to understand that our product is unique, and that people will need to be provided with adequate information in order to be interested. The unique selling point of The Story of Us really focuses on the fact that our technology is easy to use and designed to be used by all generations of people. Moreover, it can be used in all stages of the grieving process, not just immediately following a bereavement.
Due to the sensitive nature of our application, the issue of how we will market ourselves is crucial to our success. It is of extreme importance when advertising a product correlated with bereavement that we portray ourselves in a sensitive and dignified manner, as we do not want to offend, upset, or distress people. One of the initial ways we will advertise our product is at local Funeral Director shows and at the National Funeral Exhibition in London. This is a good way to get our product out there and receive some feedback from industry professionals. Additionally, we will be advertising our product within local funeral directors and businesses such as florists and stonemasons that could personally recommend our services to their clients. We want our users to want to sign up to our application because of reputation, rather than them feeling like they have been subjected to an influx of adverts from existing social media fora. Likewise, we would advertise our services in local crematoria and cemeteries, as well as local funeral businesses. There was an initial idea to advertise in local hospitals and hospices, it was felt that this would be crossing the lines of what would be appropriate, as people who have just immediately lost someone, or are in the process of visiting someone who may have recently passes away, they will probably not want to see such advertisements. So, the primary focus for our marketing will be to focus on advertisement by connecting to local businesses who already have a trusted and respected reputation.
Safeguarding Vulnerable Users
When creating a social network, it is of particular importance to consider how we plan to safeguard our users, particularly as they are likely to be extremely vulnerable and using our application during the most stressful and emotional periods of their lives. With all emerging technologies, there is the potential for misuse, and the main risks associated with The Story of Us centre on cyber bullying, grooming, identify theft, exposure to inappropriate content, the posting of information that can identify the offline location of our users, exposure to racist or hate material, and the general issues that surround connecting with strangers. Therefore, it is important we ensure that we have effective safeguarding and gatekeeping strategies in place to make sure we address these areas of concern.
In order to address these concerns, it is important to acknowledge that it would be our team initially, in conjunction with the trained grief counsellor, that would be moderating the application. Thus, it is important that we all understand the issues surrounding online safeguarding, including the warning signs of grooming, exploitation, and bullying, and ensure that we have all had an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check. Equally, we will also ensure that we consistently review our privacy and safety tools, and these will be outlines in our terms and conditions, which will also specifically state what is considered unacceptable behaviour, and how users can contact us if they have a concern or complaint.
It is important when users sign up to The Story of Us that they are aware of the risks of connecting with strangers online, a risk that is magnified due to the vulnerability of our users. The way we would convey this is to have an educational brief appear the first time our users open the application, this would take the user through a couple of steps on how to protect themselves online, inform them to be aware of who they are talking too, and reiterate that not everybody is who they say they are. Moreover, another gatekeeping strategy we have is for our users to solely sign up to the application directly through the funeral directors; essentially the funeral director will provide potential users with a code that will allow them to sign up to The Story of Us. The fact that people will not be able to sign up without a code means we will have more control over who is using the application. As we are monitoring the application ourselves, this will be the best way to attract users, as people will know the application is safe to use.
Written by Ashton Kingdon
