Joseph Fitsanakis, assistant professor of politics and geography at Coastal Carolina University, will present "The Ethics of Social Media: Privacy, Espionage and Disorder on the Electric Frontier" on Thursday, March 31, at 4 p.m. in the James J. Johnson Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the anteroom with refreshments.

Fitsanakis has spent much of his academic career exploring the dark side of the digital frontier, focusing on subjects such as cyberespionage, cyberterrorism and cybersabotage. In his presentation, he will outline the ethical issues arising from the exceptional growth of social media and will relate them to routine aspects of our everyday lives. Among other things, he will explore the following questions: Does social media make us more hostile toward each other? Why is cyberbullying such a common phenomenon? How safe are we online?

Tea and Ethics is a forum, sponsored by the Jackson Family Center for Ethics and Values, that inspires individuals to make ethical and value-based decisions. The Jackson Center aims to create opportunities for open conversations about how ethics and values affect the individual, the University, the region and the world.

Johnson Auditorium is in Room 116 of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration Building, located at 119 Chanticleer Drive E. on the Conway campus. For more information, contact Brian Edgerton, the Jackson Center's assistant director, at 843-349-4149 or bjedgert@coastal.edu.