The ethical and responsible use of social media is a growing area of social media policy. An understanding of social media ethics for museums such as the SJLM requires an understanding and appreciation of the culture of social media (Wong 2011). As museums adapt to patrons commenting via platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, museum staff will have to evaluate how much of this data they plan to keep (Wong 2011). Museums have never recorded conversations held in its hallways during exhibitions so why would they record and keep conversations online (Wong 2011)? And yet, this information can prove useful in studying the visitor experience at the museum. For example, museum patrons may share their experiences through social media discussion and information-sharing. This information can be analysed in order to study ways to enhance the visitor experience in the future (Wong 2011). It is quite possible that some of the feedback may be negative or offensive. Museums will have to reconcile whether they want to censor information or remove it from its archive or keep it for possible future use (Wong 2011). If considered valuable, the museum will need to ensure it is accessible and searchable for researchers (Wong 2011).

Another ethical issue the SJLM’s staff will have to address is patron privacy. If the museum keeps data derived from user comments on social media platforms the museum should clearly state that information will be archived (Wong 2011). As well, the museum will need to consider that by engaging with their patrons on social media they are treating them as “practices of display” with which some patrons may not be entirely comfortable, especially if patrons are concerned about their safety and privacy (Wong 2011).