Japanese Barbecue Finger — A Look At Ethical Considerations of Ariana Grande’s Social Media Upload
Living in the spotlight is not an easy task. Enduring constant scrutiny and criticism as well as cheering adoration and praise are overwhelming and can sometimes leads to misjudgement and impulsive behaviour. This is clear when famous pop singer Ariana Grande received a tattoo and took to Twitter to reveal it to her fans. In a harmless expression of cultural support, Grande wanted a tattoo to celebrate the release of her new song “7 Rings” printed on her hand in Japanese. Fans, however, were quick to point out that the tattoo read “Japanese Barbecue” instead, due to the similarity of the written Japanese language and the words 7 Rings. Grande immediately tried to alter the tattoo, adding another word that translated the message to “Japanese Barbecue Finger.”
In order to better analyze the ethicality of sharing images on social media, it’s important to consider Bowen’s 15 ethical guidelines for using social media.
The first guideline recognize the need to “be fair and prudent.” While Ariana posts the image outright, there is a language barriers if considering accessible implications. This barrier led to the initial blunder, however, Ariana acts fairly by posting the truth and revealing the inaccuracy of the tattoo.
The second ethical guideline dictates the importance of “avoiding deception.” Ariana did not try to deceive her fans, she simply made an impulsive decision without doing her research and visibly paid the price for her actions. She received this tattoo on one of the most sensitive and painful parts of her body and I believe she would not do so willingly to spread an unintentionally confusing written message to her fans.
The third guideline identifies the need for “maintaining dignity and respect.” Ariana did not pay close enough attention to her tattoo planning and hadn’t checked her cultural sources. This can display discrepancies in respect for Japan and Japanese individuals by assuming the phrase was correct without consultation.
The fourth guideline does not apply to Ariana’s situation however the fifth guideline concerning “reversibility” is crucial. Ariana tried to fix her mistake on social media by telling fans she would change the tattoo to positively reflect her intended phrase. This correction led to another blunder, resulting in “Japanese Barbecue Finger”… thankfully an indirect and not particularly offensive message.
The sixth guideline investigates “transparency” which complies with Ariana’s situation as the star updated her fans on the process of dealing with the flawed tattoo. The tattoo could also be viewed as both a sentimental image and promotional tool to help Ariana climb the charts.
The seventh guideline mentioned “clear identification,” specifically of beliefs and and opinions. Ariana apologized to her supporters and the problem was evident from the start, the wrong words were painfully tattooed on her skin.
The eighth ethical guideline describes the need for “rational analysis.” Ariana’s tattoo message could be misconstrued as a rushed and ignorant spelling error, encouraging cultural insensitivity and American epistemological superiority.
The ninth and tenth guidelines do not necessary apply. The eleventh guideline explains the urgency of the “verification of sources and data” and Ariana’s mishap represents the lack of verification of credible sources and international information.
The twelfth guideline concerns the need for “established responsibility” and Ariana was accountable on social media for her actions, immediately rushing to find a solution.
The thirteenth guideline examine “intention” and I’d like to hope that Ariana had true intention of commemorating her song with a new tattoo.
The fourteenth ethical guideline dictates that a social media post should “encourage the good.” Ariana attempted to encourage engagement within her community of fans by recognizing her own personal musical achievement as a tattoo. It encourages the good through receptive humour and confusion. However, the significance of Japanese lettering remains a mystery, perhaps insinuating the use of the language as a culturally and visually pleasing aesthetic choice. Ariana could have used English in her tattoo but decided on connecting and uniting her fans globally through a different language.
The final fifteenth ethical guideline addresses “consistency building trust.” Ariana shared her tattoo information publicly and her audience consistently saw errors in her artistic and linguistic decisions. She attempted to meet through expectations but was repeatedly informed of her mistakes.
By analyzing and critically assessing the ethical considerations of Ariana Grande, it is clear to see that without the publication of the tattoo image on social media, she would have been unaware of the inked mistake. Social media fosters collective discussion and Ariana’s audience recognized the mistake and refrained from cancelling her. The audience informed her and encouraged the singer to check her sources and research before inking anything onto her body.
Sources:
Bowen, S. (2013). Using classic social media cases to distill ethical guidelines for digital engagement. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 28, 119–133.
