The Ethical Landscape of Behavior Analysis Forums on Reddit

Abstract

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) released the third iteration of ethical practice guidelines for certificants, which went into effect on January 1, 2022. This Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (hereafter Ethics Code) is streamlined and more enforceable than its predecessors, with the continued overarching directive to improve consumer protection. In the decades after the BACB was founded, the internet and social media have become ubiquitous in daily life, including within applied behavior analysis (ABA). Social media can benefit ABA stakeholders by providing access to enhanced professional networks, practitioner resources, and study guides or social support for behavior analysis students. However, the use of social media leads to a potentially increased risk of ethical concerns. Therefore, the authors of this article sought to explore how behavioral products in ABA social media forums on Reddit align with the Ethics Code. Findings suggest that most user engagement in ABA subreddit is ethical, but users also engage in ways that potentially misalign with the Ethics Code. Finally, the authors describe implications for future research and practice to promote ethical user engagement online by ABA practitioners.

Introduction

In 2018 the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) revised the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts, transforming it into the new Code of Ethics for Behavior Analysts (hereafter Ethics Code; BACB, 2020a, 2020b). The Ethics Code, which came into effect on January 1, 2022, represents the most recent iteration of professional guideline documents created by the BACB. It has been designed to improve readability and enforceability by using clear, operationally defined standards. This is all aimed at enhancing consumer protection in a rapidly growing field (BACB, 2020b; Sellers et al., 2023). Despite practice guidelines existing since the inception of the BACB, ethical violations continue to persist (Britton et al., 2021).

The BACB released a summary of ethical violations and enforcement activities under the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts for 2016–2017 (BACB, 2014, 2018). At that time, the BACB reported that the most frequent ethical violations were improper or inadequate supervision/delegation (67 violations), failure to report or respond to the BACB as required (67 violations), lack of professionalism and integrity (65 violations), and inaccurate and dishonest information in attaining or maintaining a BACB certification or status (31 violations; BACB, 2018). Following the release of the 2018 summary document, the BACB changed its data collection system so that subsequent releases of ethical violations could not be collated with the initial report and instead released future summaries in White Paper format (BACB, 2019). Thus, from an organizational standpoint, the BACB continues to develop and refine its data collection and compliance procedures. One negative outcome of this change is that consumers have limited ability to learn from historical data because of the rapid changes in professional guidelines and lack of reporting continuity. It is fortunate that researchers have examined these historical data where they, for example, analyzed and compared Ethics Hotline Data to BACB reported violations and provided a glimpse into the landscape of ethical compliance in behavior analysis (LeBlanc et al., 2020). The applied behavior analysis (ABA) Ethics Hotline is an independent ethics consultation website that offers both free confidential guidance and in-depth exploration of ethical dilemmas faced by behavior analysts (ABA Ethics Hotline, n.d.). LeBlanc et al. (2020) found that most ethical violations reported to the Ethics Hotline are complex and involve multiple codes.

In the decades since the BACB was founded, the world has grown increasingly digital and connected via social media. Social media is defined as "websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking" (Oxford English Dictionary). Social media websites and applications have become ubiquitous in U.S. society, with more than 80% of adults aged 18–49 and 73% of adults aged 50–64 regularly using at least one form of social media (Pew Research Center, n.d.).

Social media can expand the professional networks for behavior analysts and aspiring students. However, it can also introduce ethical concerns and risks (Cooper et al., 2019). The term “social media” first appeared in BACB (2014) guidelines in the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts, under Standards 2.06 Maintaining Confidentiality and 8.0 Public Statements. From a behavior analytic perspective, user participation and content sharing can be observed, measured, and analyzed (O'Donnell, 2022). Researchers have stressed the importance of extending guidance for behaviors within the social media sphere to be aligned with the Ethics Code (Cooper et al., 2019; O'Leary et al., 2017). Emerging evidence suggests that online misinformation about ABA (Turgeon & Lanovaz, 2021) and autism (Aragon-Guevara et al., 2023) commonly exists, and researchers found unethical client testimonials on ABA websites (Phu & Bryne, 2018). It is unfortunate that our current knowledge about how behavior analysts interact online in relation to the Ethics Code is extremely limited.

Researchers have explored the social media trend of behavior analysts seeking clinical support and have recommended guidelines that behavior analysts and organizations should take online (O'Leary et al., 2017; Weiss & Russo, 2019). For example, O'Leary et al. (2017) proposed six recommendations: (1) heavily disguise real clients; (2) avoid making treatment recommendations; (3) refer readers back to the literature; (4) write a disclaimer; (5) provide resources; and (6) provide organizational training. Weiss and Russo (2019) note that the risk of breaching confidentiality is the greatest on social media platforms, and organizations must address this risk in multiple ways, such as by creating specific social media policies and providing training for both employees and clients at the onset of the professional relationship, as well as on an ongoing annual basis. In addition, Brodhead and Higbee (2012) note that antecedent strategies, such as regular employee training, are preferable to reactive strategies, such as punitive measures, to promote desired behaviors aligned with the Ethics Code, particularly for ethical challenges that may result in litigation or other adverse outcomes. Although these recommendations are ideal for preventing potentially unethical behaviors on social media platforms, O'Leary et al. (2017) further recommend that "future researchers and authors analyze social media behavior with regards to this new Compliance Code, to determine its application and necessity for improvements" (p. 51).

Therefore, the authors of the present article sought to expand upon this recommendation by exploring behavior analysts' social media behavior concerning the Ethics Code, mainly through the social media platform Reddit. Reddit is a social media website created in 2005 and is the world's sixth most visited website (Semrush, 2022). Users post content on message board forums called subreddits, with unique guidelines, moderators, topics, and cultures. Subreddits are typically centered on a theme or topic, ranging from one-eyed cats to ABA. Subreddit moderators are typically tasked with upholding the community guidelines, such as maintaining appropriate topics of posts and deleting them or banning users who violate these policies. Users rarely have identifiable usernames and staying anonymous is a key feature of the social media platform.

The anonymity of Reddit provides opportunities and challenges for research (Staudt Willet & Carpenter, 2020). In the context of the present study and due to the nature of the content analyzed, the researchers could not verify the identity or credentials of the individuals posting. The latter created a challenge when analyzing the alignment or misalignment of posts (or behavioral products) with the Ethics Code, specifically because the Ethics Code only applies to and can be enforced with individuals certified by the BACB. However, the anonymity of posting on Reddit is found to promote an increase in self-disclosure on subreddits relevant to behavior analysts, such as parents seeking support (Mann & Carter, 2021) and early career teachers (Na & Staudt Willet, 2022). Parents and teachers are similar to behavior analysts in that most are supporting vulnerable populations (children and/or individuals with disabilities) and all parties may fear punishment if they share controversial viewpoints or experiences. Therefore, the anonymity of Reddit may promote the sharing of sentiments and experiences that otherwise would be difficult to observe, measure, and analyze (Staudt Willet & Carpenter, 2020).

Posts made within ABA specific subreddits may paint a picture that is "not merely a reflection of our own individual practice, but it is the field as a whole" (Weiss & Russo, 2019). Therefore, the aim of this study was to use a data-based approach to examine posts in Reddit, across three ABA subreddits in the context of the 2022 Ethics Code. Online posts are conceptualized in this study as behavioral products. The following research question guided our study: How do behavioral products within public social media forums created for practitioners and consumers of behavior analysis align with the Ethics Code?

Method

Using a pragmatic approach, the authors conducted this study to inform current and future behavior analysts about the landscape of ABA social media in an ethical context (Patton, 2015). The primary methodology employed was content analysis, a method used to categorize, identify, and analyze various forms of text to derive meaning (Patton, 2015; Schreier, 2012). In this study, the text under investigation consisted of users' posts within three ABA subreddits. In addition, a deductive approach was taken in the content analysis of users’ posts. Qualitative deductive coding is the process of analyzing data against a particular existing theory, framework, or concept to further explain or illuminate a certain phenomenon (Patton, 2015). In the case of this study, predetermined categories were created based on the Ethics Code, which the authors used to make meaning and categorize users' posts within the ABA subreddits (Patton, 2015; Schreier, 2012).

Reddit Data Collection

The authors selected three ABA-themed subreddits based on their popularity as defined by the highest user membership at the start of data collection in February 2022. To determine the highest membership, authors searched the following key terms within the Reddit platform: BCBA, Behavior Analysis, Applied Behavior Analysis, and ABA, resulting in the following three most popular subreddits: (1) r/Behavior Analysis: The Experimental Analysis of Behavior (20.9k members); (2) r/ABA: Applied Behavior Analysis (19.6k members); and (3) r/bcba: Behavior Analysis (2k members). After the subreddits were identified, the authors randomly selected eight dates between February 1 and June 1, 2022, for which they would collect data. Each author was randomly assigned two dates to collect data across the three forums: At 11:00 pm EST, on their respective day, subreddits were viewed, and authors would ensure that the filter "New" was selected under tab "Posts." The authors would then copy all posts across 24 hr into a spreadsheet. Every post displayed a timestamp (e.g., 1 hr ago) that the authors referenced to identify 24 hr’s worth of posts. These steps were repeated for all three subreddits for all days of data collection.

Reddit Data Analysis

After data collection, each post was coded by two authors who were randomly assigned to two data collection dates. These authors individually coded each post based on predetermined categories (see Table 1; Schreier, 2012). These categories were created by consulting the Ethics Code and can be referenced in Table 1: "Aligning with the Ethics Code," "Not Aligning with the Ethics Code," "Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code," "Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code," and "Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code." After individual coding, the two authors met to review, discuss, and resolve any discrepancies. Then, they jointly consulted the Ethics Code and assigned corresponding Ethics Code Standards to each post. Please refer to Table 2 for the standards assigned to each predetermined category. This process was repeated until all posts across the eight dates were reviewed by two assigned authors.

Table 1.

Category and definitions

Category	Definition
Aligning with the Ethics Code	Posts that were in line the Ethics Code
Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	Posts that were not in line with one or more standards within the Ethics Code
Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	Posts that due to a lack of adequate contextual information, could potentially not be aligned with the one or more standards within the Ethics Code
Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	Posts that referenced external (i.e., offline) events or circumstances that did not align with one or more standards within the Ethics Code
Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	Posts that referenced external (i.e., offline) events or circumstances that, due to a lack of adequate contextual information, could potentially not be aligned with one or more standards within the Ethics Code

Table 2.

Categories, subcategories, and associated ethics code standards within posts

Categories	Sub-Categories	Associated Standards
Aligning with the Ethics Code	Certification Questions
	BACB Supervision Questions
	Career Recommendations
	Request for Resources
	Master's Programs Advice
Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	Practicing Outside Scope of Competence	1.05 Practicing within Scope of Competence
	Lack of Protection of Data	2.03 Protecting Confidential Information
		2.05 Documentation Protection and Retention
	Giving Advice without Assessing Client	2.13 Selecting, Designing, and Implementing Assessments
		2.14 Selecting, Designing, and Implementing Behavior-Change Interventions
	Breaching Client Confidentiality	5.02 Confidentiality in Public Statements
		5.03 Public Statements by Behavior Analysts
Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	Administrative Dishonesty	1.01 Being Truthful
		Core Principle 2 Treat Others with Compassion, Dignity, and Respect
	Designing Non Function-Based Behavior Plans	2.01 Providing Effective Treatment
Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	Unsafe Working Environment	1.01 Being Truthful
		1.09 Nonharassment
	Not reporting Ethical Violations	1.03 Accountability
		3.01 Responsibility to Clients
	Providing Ineffective Training of Staff	1.05 Practicing within Scope of Competence
	Implementing Ineffective Treatment Plans	2.01 Providing Effective Treatment
		2.14 Selecting, Designing, and Implementing Behavior-Change Interventions
		3.12 Advocating for Appropriate Services
		3.16 Appropriately Transitioning Services
	Threatening Caregivers to Change Client Hours	3.15 Appropriately Discontinuing Services
	Providing Supervision Hours Outside of Supervision Standards	4.01 Compliance with Supervision Requirements
		4.04 Accountability in Supervision
		4.08 Performance Monitoring and Feedback
	Confidentiality	5.03 Public Statements by Behavior Analysts
Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	Safety Considerations for Staff	1.01 Being Truthful
	Implementing Ineffective Treatment Plans	2.01 Providing Effective Treatment
		2.14 Selecting, Designing, and Implementing Behavior-Change Interventions
	Billing Dishonesty	2.06 Accuracy in Service Billing and Reporting
	Irresponsibility to Interested Parties	3.01 Responsibility to Clients
	Undefined Roles in the Workplace	4.09 Delegation of Tasks
	Minimal Supervision Provision	4.01 Compliance with Supervision Requirements
		4.02 Supervisory Scope of Competence
		4.04 Accountability in Supervision

Trustworthiness

To ensure concordance in data sampling from the selected subreddits and dates, the authors conducted interrater agreement checks on the selected behavior products. In this process, a second author was assigned to 30% of the days on which data was collected. Utilizing the same procedures described above, this second author collected data and compared it to the data of the primary author for that day. One hundred percent agreement was achieved among 30% of the posts. In addition, to ensure credibility and trustworthiness, we adhered to qualitative research methods quality indicators as outlined by Brantlinger et al. (2005). These included (1) investigator triangulation, given the collaborative nature of designing and conducting the study; (2) careful selection and description of data, achieved by purposefully randomly selecting posts from three ABA-themed subreddits; and (3) maintaining researcher reflexivity, by keeping a researcher journal, which also served as an audit trail. The authors consulted their institution's IRB officers, who determined the study was exempt from formal review and provided guidance to ensure ethical data collection and storage of posts without identifying information.

Findings

Coding Categories

The authors reviewed 935 public posts across the three forums and eight dates. Of these posts, 832 were coded as Aligning with the Ethics Code, 24 as Not Aligning with the Ethics Code, and 34 as Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code. Forty-five were coded as Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code or Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code Behavior due to questionable content but limited adequate information to determine if an ethical violation may have occurred. The percentages of forum posts falling into each category are displayed below in Table 3. In addition, Table 4 can be referenced for examples of posts that were sorted into the five coding categories.

Table 3.

Percentage of posts per category

Category	Number of Observations (%)
Aligning with the Ethics Code	832 (89)
Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	24 (2.6)
Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code or Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	45 (4.8)
Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	34 (3.6)

Table 4.

Example posts per category

Category	Examples
Aligning with the Ethics Code	“Help needed: I am very anxious about starting in my new role as a supervising BCBA, can people direct me to resources about supervising as a BCBA?” “Some of my favorite supervision books are: 1. Great supervision book, 2. Awesome supervision book, and 3. Excellent supervision book. Good luck! You’ll do great!”
Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	“I work at a small clinic in a rural area in central Illinois, I have a client who exhibits extreme self-injurious behavior, can you please help me with resources in working with this client and their family?”
	“If you are having a client engage in self-injurious behavior, you have to use [specific curriculum]. It will be the most effective for your client, guaranteed!”
Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code	“I get tired of working with demanding parents. If they have the gall to criticize my work, then I’m going to drop them. No time for that.”
	“ABA is not about coddling people, it’s about helping them solve problems. It’s a data-based approach, not one driven by emotions or ego, but by tangible change seen in the lives of those it has helped. This might not be the field for you, maybe you should look into counseling if you plan to coddle your clients.”
Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	“I mostly get my supervision hours toward my BCBA by processing insurance claims and working on billing for clients. Any advice on how I can get more supervision to better prepare me for the exam?”
	“My daughter gets ABA and the BCBA told me that we’d be dropped unless we increase our hours to 30 per week. I have no idea why they want to do this, they didn’t explain anything, and I feel threatened and exhausted. Help!”
Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code	“I don’t think I have received proper supervision through this whole process, and I am feeling very low and unprepared.”
	“Does anyone else feel like me: I have a client and I feel all I am doing is babysitting. I am working towards my BCBA and this doesn’t seem right, can anyone relate?”

The above fabricated examples are based on compilations of real quotes but have been heavily altered to protect the anonymity of the users

Most of the posts analyzed were in alignment with the Ethics Code and largely consisted of requesting or sharing evidence-based resources and career advancement advice. However, the authors found multiple posts on each sampled date to be of questionable ethics, most falling into the Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code category, often due to the brevity of forum posts and the inability to obtain full context about the situations described. For example, in one forum, an individual described a clinic failing to allow a BCBA 2 weeks of continued time at the company after providing notice of quitting, possibly implicating Standard 3.16 regarding appropriately transitioning services to clients (BACB, 2020b). However, no information was shared in the post about difficulties related to transition plans. Another example included conversations about accruing fieldwork hours with inappropriate activities, such as time spent doing administrative tasks, which potentially violates several standards within the Ethic Code’s Section 4: Responsibility to Supervisees and Trainees (BACB, 2020b).

The main category of Not Aligning with the Ethics Code included possible breaches of client confidentiality, practicing outside of one's scope of competence, and providing treatment advice without assessment data or other knowledge of the case or client. For example, in one post, the original user requested advice for a difficult client situation and received comments providing an assumed behavioral function and a suggested prompt adjustment. In several other situations, clinical settings, clients, and client behaviors were described in such detail that they could be potentially identifiable.

The main category Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code, revolved around administrative dishonesty in billing, inadequate or insufficient clinical supervision, and complaints about working environments, including staff safety concerns and clarifications of roles. For example, individuals complained about their lack of safety with an in-home client due to the home environment, noting they received little support from their supervisor. Another user described feeling ill-prepared for their next professional role due to experiencing sexual harassment, bullying, and inadequate supervision at a previous company.

It is notable that we did not identify any posts that cautioned or redirected users for sharing potentially unethical information. The Ethics Code states, “behavior analysts should address concerns about the professional misconduct of others directly with them” (BACB, 2020b). In addition, although we coded all posts according to the Ethics Code, some users self-identified as registered behavior technicians (RBT) and posted potential violations of the RBT Ethics Code (e.g., RBT Standards 2.04 and 2.06) but not the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.

Discussion

This study explored posts in subreddits designed to engage practitioners and consumers of behavior analysis and how they relate to the Ethics Code. The value of social media for ABA professionals was evident through the collegial sharing of information in alignment with the Ethics Code. The various topics of discussion created a support network for practitioners and a resource for information related to certification, supervision, materials, and academic program and career recommendations, which is in alignment with research about early career teachers and their use of Reddit (Na & Staudt Willet, 2022). Although most posts aligned with the Ethics Code per our definitions, it is essential to clarify that only the BACB can definitively specify ethical alignment or misalignment. In our analysis and by our definitions, 11% of the posts were potentially misaligned with the Ethics Code. The prolific access to the internet and the increased use of social media to seek therapeutic, professional, and personal support can present unique ethical challenges for both recipients and providers of ABA services. It is fortunate that posts that were out of alignment with the Ethics Code constituted a small percentage of the data analyzed in this study. However, the deviation from the core ethical principles can cause harm to consumers, providers, and the field as a whole (Weiss & Russo, 2019). Given that we did not note any posts cautioning other users about unethical online conduct, that may be an indication that ethical social media use should be revisited and promoted while training professionals and other interested parties. Adopting training systems that focus on ethics and online user engagement may provide greater consumer protection. When people are informed and aware of their rights and expectations of conduct, they are more likely to advocate for themselves or their clients, or act as whistleblowers (Ash, 2016).

Furthermore, the posts included in the categories of Potentially Not Aligning with the Ethics Code and Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code covered a wide array of topics that may violate the core principles of the Ethics Code, such as treating others with compassion, dignity, and respect, especially concerning workplace culture and expectations. Potentially unethical interactions online can result in repercussions such as negative public perception of ABA, which may jeopardize the trust and buy-in of interested parties in what could be effective, person-centered, and evidence-based interventions. Our analysis identified Conversations about Behavior Potentially Not Aligned with the Ethics Code surrounding administrative dishonesty (e.g., discussions about questionable billing practices), which violate the obligation to be truthful to clients and reduce the perceived legitimacy of the ABA providers. The other concern was soliciting and designing non-function-based behavior plans, which are at odds with the ethical guideline of providing clients with effective treatment. Nonbehavioral interventions are outside the scope of practice for behavior analysts, which violates the Ethics Code and implicates the responsibility to do no harm and to maximize benefit for clients. Violations of consumer rights to effective treatment can also prompt legal action against those who commit those infringements. In a time when few ABA providers are in the news for insurance fraud (e.g., U.S. Department of Justice, 2021) and are labeled as inappropriate treatment providers by self-advocates (Gardiner, 2017), it is imperative that practitioners and leaders within the field of ABA uphold the core ethical principles and always keep their clients' needs and well-being at the forefront, which includes behaving responsibly offline and online.

Limitations

The authors recognize that the data collected and analyzed represent a snapshot of time that may not be representative of the full scope of user engagement in ABA forums. Reddit is a popular social media outlet where thousands of users post daily. Readers are cautioned when interpreting our findings as we captured a small portion of total user engagement in ABA subreddits. Due to this, and the nature of qualitative analysis, the information discussed cannot be generalized to describe the normal activity in these ABA subreddits or to other social media platforms. Rather, this information should be used to support and inform future research, conversations, and professional development about the intersection of social media and ethics in behavior analysis. In addition, the three subreddits have moderators who are tasked with reviewing posts and deleting ones that violate confidentiality, so it is possible that posts may have been deleted in the hours prior to our data collection window and the number of posts potentially misaligned with the Ethics Code may be higher than reported here. Lastly, the perspectives of the online users who post on Reddit are not represented in this study; therefore, they may or may not correspond with behaviors in other environments like the workspace (Beninger et al., 2014; Proferes et al., 2021), that is, although someone may present certain sentiments and opinions online, their behavior in nonvisual spaces may be quite different.

Implications

This study has several implications for practice and research. First and foremost, organizational administrators and individual practitioners are recommended to explicitly review the Ethics Code as it relates to social media (BACB, 2020b). In addition, organization leaders should support their staff and provide clear examples and nonexamples of appropriate online engagement with social media platforms when acting in a capacity covered under the scope of the Ethics Code (Weiss & Russo, 2019). Organizational leaders must enact proactive positive teaching strategies to increase behaviors aligned with the Ethics Code (Brodhead & Higbee, 2012). However, even without organizational leadership support, behavior analysts have an individual responsibility to adhere to the Ethics Code when acting in their professional activities (BACB, 2020b). Behavior analysts should be reflective when posting on social media and when responding to posts from others to ensure that their online interactions align with our Ethics Code. Based on the findings, the authors of this study echo the recommendations by other researchers that practitioners must heavily disguise clients when seeking support from the wider behavior analytic community, and when responding to the posts of others should refer users to the empirical literature and avoid providing any treatment recommendations (O'Leary et al., 2017; Weiss & Russo, 2019).

The anonymity of Reddit may promote an increase in both self-disclosure statements (Mann & Carter, 2021) and unethical behaviors (Chang, 2008; Suler, 2004). Thus, anonymity might be viewed as a double-edged sword, promoting both beneficial interactions of self-disclosure for some (Mann & Carter, 2021), while also creating the opportunity to engage unethically while avoiding the likelihood of direct punishment due to the anonymity. The authors of this study operated under the assumption that users posting in ABA subreddits were associated with behavior analysis and relied on the users to self-identify as behavior analysts or RBTs. It is possible that posts identified as out of alignment with the Ethics Code were not written by individuals certified by the BACB, and thus were neither obligated to follow the Ethics Code nor subject to its enforcement. Not being able to verify a user’s identity or their BACB certification status can have implications on interpreting our findings, because those who are not obligated to follow the Ethics Code would not be engaging in “unethical behavior” or creating behavior products not aligned with the Ethics Code. Nonetheless, individuals certified by the BACB have an obligation to correct, redirect, or report unethical posts.

Overall, the authors recommend that researchers continue to examine online interactions and how these interactions are aligned with the Ethics Code, as well as the impact of social media training on the behavior of practitioners online. In addition, future research may be required on the function of online posting, particularly regarding Conversations about Behavior Not Aligned with the Ethics Code, to offer replacement ethical avenues for professionals in the field who may need support. Last, examining social media posts across time may provide more nuanced information than can be gleaned from samples within a limited time period. Additional avenues to explore include examining private online forums that require certification to peruse and post, as well as qualitative data from practitioners about their own experiences in social media.

Conclusion

The updated Ethics Code provides some guidance for practitioners in navigating their social media usage; however, as shown in this study, additional research, organizational leadership, and individual responsibility is needed to uphold our Ethics Code. In summary, our study initiates the exploration of how behavior analysts and consumers of applied behavior analysts engage on public social media platforms: Shedding a light on the discussion that are occurring. Our study emphasizes the necessity for further research to continue exploring the ways in which professionals credentialed under the BACB, as well as consumers of ABA, are interacting on public social media platforms. We also believe that proactive steps need to be taken to encourage responsible platform use. We recommend the development of training programs and guidelines to enhance ethical online behavior, with a focus on safeguarding client confidentiality and practicing within one's scope while refraining from offering generic advice. In addition, we advocate for the establishment of monitoring and reporting mechanisms to uphold professionalism and ethical standards in behavior analysis social media forums.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception, design, material preparation, data collection, and analysis. All authors wrote, read, and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this article.

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Declarations

Conflicts of Interest

All authors are board certified behavior analysts who stand to gain from favorable public perception of ABA and have previously received payment working in schools, homes, and clinics using behavior analysis. The authors certify that they have no current affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this article.

Ethics Approval

The Institutional Review Board at reviewed the methods and procedures of this project and determined that the project was exempt and did not require a formal review.