Social Work and Social Media: New Opportunities and Challenges for the Future of Social Work Practice and Education. This presentation explores: Problematic assumptions about Social Media; How social media impacts social work practice? Some of the Differences between “online” and “offline” experiences; Dark Play; Ethical Challenges & Collapsing Boundaries between Public & Private and more ... IFSW European Conference: September 2015, Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

1. Claudia Megele
@ClaudiaMegele
Senior Lecturer and CPD/PQ Programme Leader & Digital Lead
Middlesex University

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3.  Attitude towards Social Media
 Some of the drivers for this:
 The unknown
 Fear of a new thing to learn and master and
understand
 Causes anxiety
 Can cause/lead to ‘splitting’
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Picture source: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/01/30/social-worker-hauled-regulator-trolling-david-cameron/

5.  Social Media is common sense;
 Social Media cannot be taught/ shouldn’t be taught;
 If you are a social worker you should know how to use
social media;
 Social media is always changed so there is no need for
social media guidance;
 Social media is the same as face to face and the same
rules apply;
 I know about social media I have a twitter account
(Tweeting = social media “expert”);
 Trolling is only done by non-social workers;
 I am the same online and offline;
 Social Media is a waste of time;
 Social Media is all about celebrity and what you had for
breakfast;
 Social media is facebook and tweeting.
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6.  Changing concept of communication, connectedness and
proximity
 Liminal lives
 Changing concept of relationships
 Changing concept of social
 Changing concept of community
 Changing and collapsing boundaries of private and public
 Absence of physical and some other communicative cues
 Social presence and Co-presence and its implications for
identity and behaviour
 Dissociative effect of the Internet
 Other psychosocial effects
Claudia Megele Social Media Research Symposium 6

7.  New problems (online grooming; sexting;
cyberbullying; online sexual exploitation; online
radicalisation of CYP & vulnerable adults; privacy and
adopted children; social workers professional
identities; cyberstalking and harassment, etc. )
 Requires social workers to develop new skills and
ways of dealing with issues;
 Social media acts as an amplifier and therefore
vulnerabilities can be amplified;
 New models of service delivery and rise of e-services.
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9. Woman LiveTweeting
Couple breaking up on flight
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3208816/So-just-going-phase-Couple-s-break-board-flight-live-tweeted-fellow-
passenger.html

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11.  Offline vs. online boundaries for CYP and adults.
 Play is contained and supervised but online
there is at times no supervision or limited
supervision.
 New rise of communication and relationships
 Sexting
 cyberbulling
 New vulnerabilities
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12.  Ofcom (2014) figures indicate that three in ten 12-15 year
olds (28%) could be contacted through their social media
profile by people who are not directly known to them;
 Boys are more likely than girls to say their profile can be
seen by friends and their friends (24% vs. 11%), while girls
are more likely than boys to say their profile can be seen
only by their friends (76% vs. 64%).
 Sharp increase in tablet use: children aged between 5 to 15
34% own a tablet, up from 19% in 2013, while six in ten
(62%) children use a tablet at home, up from 42% in 2013.
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13.  ESET Survey (2015) indicates that 88% of parents are worried
about what their children can access online;
 71% worried that CYP could give their personal details to
strangers;
 61% were concerned about the amount of time their CYP spent
“online”.
 Nonetheless, out of 2,000 survey respondents across US and UK ,
37% stated that their children did not have security program on
their mobile or tablet.
 Sexting and internet safety climb top 10 list of child health
concerns.
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17.  Source: CanTweets Predict Citations? Metrics of Social Impact Based on
Twitter and Correlation withTraditional Metrics of Scientific Impact

18.  Nobel scientist and Professor (Tim Hunt) allegedly made the following
remark at aWorld Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul, South Korea
 “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when
they are in the lab …You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and
when you criticise them, they cry.”
 The above comment was tweeted and shortly thereafter he was dismissed
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21.  Children use social media to track birth parents and vice versa ;
 “With a click she (birth mother) appeared in my bedroom” (adopted child);
 Example of a message sent to a child read: "Hello, I'm your birth father. I have
been searching for you ever since you were stolen by social services.You look
beautiful. I love you so much.“ (Macdonald, 2010)
 “When I asked social workers for advice, they just said to monitor her. But it’s
unrealistic to think that teenagers won’t go on Facebook – if only on a friend’s
phone – in the end, that is exactly what happened.” (Maddox, 2012)
 “He had been in and out of prison for grievous bodily harm and had threatened
Poppy’s social worker, as well as saying that when he tracked me down, he would
kill me with a gun.” (Maddox, 2012)
 “In my experience, social workers just aren’t technologically savvy and so their
advice is basic and unhelpful,” (Maddox, 2012)
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22.  It is important for social workers to be aware of social media and
online safety for CYP;
 The importance of holistic safeguarding is recognised in the
Knowledge and Skills Statement (KSS 5) by the Chief Social
Worker and the Government’s response.
 This means that failing to consider e-safeguarding and e-safety of
CYP might be construed as professional negligence on the part of
practitioners.
 How should social workers be dealing with cyberbullying, online
grooming, online sexual exploitation etc. is this taught on social
work courses? Do local authorities provide training?
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24.  While a few years ago the question was
whether online networks could be
considered as communities…
 Today the question is whether offline and
face-to-face communities can prosper and
survive without online presence?
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26.  There is an increasing expectation that
face-to-face and offline relationships are
completed by online interactions;
 People can feel excluded when not on
social media; i.e. digital divide has
become a significant risk & challenge;.
 Absence of physical and some other
communicative cues;
 A lot of online communication is textual
or involves an image such as aTweet, a
Facebook postings or comments, blogs,
vlogs or video blogs, Instagram or Flickr
postings ,etc.
 This means the interaction is not
accompanied with all the nuanced
sophistication of face-to-face
interactions.
 And online messages can be more easily
misunderstood or taken out of context.
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Picture source: http://uk.businessinsider.com/ubs-economists-finds-
business-spending-in-consumer-spending-2015-5?r=US&IR=T

27.  When my son was six, he received a Harry
Potter Lego set as a gift.The set came with
an envelope from Hogwarts and he became
very excited, yelling “Look Mom!! An email!”
heathers4aa63ec5d
 Saw a three-year-old try to “swipe” a stack of
paper photograph, then drop them all over
floor looking puzzled.emilyg4b17ac162
 We drove to Florida for vacation and my two-
year-old nephew slept through the arrival. We
were all settling in to go to sleep when he
shot up. “iPack? I want iPack.”When we told
him it was bed time and the iPad was in the
car. He climbed down from the bed running
to the door. “I’m coming, iPack, I’m coming.”
Source: BuzzFeed
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28.  Reality and identity
can be distorted
online.
 How do children,
adolescents & adults
see and represent
themselves in today’s
visual culture?
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29. West Sussex: Live twitter chat with Annie Maciver, Director of Family
Operations,Amanda Radley, Head of Children’s SocialCare andWendy Hill,
Principal SocialWorker.

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31.  Case Study of Essex SocialWorker sanctioned over FACEBOOK
comments.
 Some of the comments posted:
 “Just experienced His Honour Judge give parents a massive rollicking.”
 “It was an amazing and extraordinary moment in my career and he
complimented my Court evidence - how proud am I “
 ‘”Thanks all me and [unnamed person] are reflecting on how the solicitor
commented on [how] fine nails and shoes appear to be a requirement of our
team lol. Anyway of [sic] now to do the mammoth grim task fingers crossed
xxx.’
 ‘Its powerful to know that … children’s lives have been massively changed
for the better.’
Source: HCPC
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32.  This highlights issues of around practice and professional identity and
professional boundaries.
 An example of collapsing boundaries and lack of lack of attention and awareness
of private vs. public. Social media can make us feel that we are only talking our
‘friends’.
 Many LA block social media and ask social workers not to use it due to the
sensitive nature of the work. However, it can result in a culture where people use
it anyway and mistakes occur due to lack of discussion, time for reflection etc.
 Lack of understanding of the psychological and psychosocial implications of
social media;
 Lack of understanding regarding digital permanence and digital footprints;
 Lack of understanding of the ‘Digital Self’ and boundaries;
 Drawn into the trap of oversharing experiences.
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34.  ‘Triggered by over-exposure to social information on SNS,
envy feelings can cause significant damage to users’ well-
being and impact their life satisfaction’
 Promotion of narcissistic behaviour, with most users sharing
only positive things about themselves
 ‘… friend lists typically consist of individuals with a high
degree of similarity to the profile owner, which is particularly
conducive for the proliferation of envy feelings.’
Source: Krasnova, Hanna; Wenninger, Helena; Widjaja, Thomas; and Buxmann, Peter, "Envy on
Facebook: A HiddenThreat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?" (2013). Wirtschaftsinformatik Proceedings
2013. Paper 92.
http://aisel.aisnet.org/wi2013/92
Do you agree with the above statements?
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35. • Embedded social media as a teaching,
learning and assessment tool on the Step-Up
to SocialWork Programme.
• Enhance digital literacy skills, ethics and
values of social media engagement.
• Enhance e-professionalism and becoming a
digital practitioner and a digital scholar.
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David Isaac fromTorbay Hospital one of the first surgeons in UK to use Google Glass
Source: BBC online http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27315498

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40.  An InternationalCurriculum: Relationship
Based Practice;
 UK students (Middlesex University)
 US students (The State University of New
York at Buffalo);
 Online sessions and discussions and live
interactive classes;
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41.  Social media and identity: studying the effect of
social media on identity, mentalisation ,
empathy, relationship and correlates
 Does coming online affect ones identity,
mentalisation, empathy, relationship and
correlates?
 Is there a relationship between level of social
media activity and identity, mentalisation,
empathy, relationship and correlates?
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43.  Enquiring Mind and a critical perspective:
 considers social media and new technologies and critically thinks
about how this is changing society, work, culture and
communication;
 Strategic and effective Use of Social Media:
 uses technology and social media to enhance the standing of the
profession. Acknowledges that the personal and professional
cannot be separated. Social media use even if in ‘personal
capacity’ will have consequences.
 Identifies new opportunities and challenges:
 digital divide, social media amplifies vulnerabilities
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44.  TheorizingTwitter Chat
 Social care in the e-professionalism era
 Employers Social Media Policy and the Challenge of e-Professionalism
 eABLE: Embedding social media in academic curricula as a learning and
assessment strategy to enhance students’ learning and e-Professionalism
 Social media should be an essential part of new social workers’ toolkits
 Five ways Google Glass can transform social care.The Guardian, Accessed
13 January 2015
 How can we use digital media in social work courses?
 Local government in 2020: challenges and opportunities
 How to move from local e-government to collaborative e-governance
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45.  Claudia Megele
 Twitter: @ClaudiaMegele
 Email:C.Megele@mdx.ac.uk
 Academia.edu:
http://mdx.academia.edu/ClaudiaMegele
 Psychosocial & Relationship Based Practice
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