1. Social media in social work practice: dilemmas, debates and challenges Dr. Joanne Westwood School of Applied Social Science University of Stirling

3. “ We are facing a digital revolution that is changing the way that people communicate, socialise, share information, work and even access goods and services” (BDO, 2012p. )

5. Background and context Definitions Key issues when using social media in social work practice Innovation in practice using social media tools Action planning Session outline

6. Online payment/booking systems (council tax; waste recycling; library accounts, school allocation etc…) Flexibility Customer service approach Accessibility, transparency, and accountability Facebook 1.3 billion users (Statistics Brain, 2014a) Twitter 645,750,000 registered Twitter users, average 58 million tweets per day (Statistics Brain, 2014b) Progress to date: Digital citizenship

7. Shropshire Council partners with Tunstall advisory service for assistive technology programme http://shropshire.gov.uk/news/2014/09/shropshire-council-partners-with- tunstall-advisory-service-for-assistive-technology-programme/http://shropshire.gov.uk/news/2014/09/shropshire-council-partners-with- tunstall-advisory-service-for-assistive-technology-programme/ “Through the development of an enhanced assistive technology strategy, we can combine the right technological solutions with local support, to achieve our aim of enabling local people to have the freedom to live their lives to the full” (Shropshire council 2014) But: “The unique risks, the perceived lack of control and the difficulty in measuring the return in the short term means that local authorities have typically opted to dip a toe in the pool of social media rather than diving in head first”. (BDO 2012. p.4) Shropshire Newsroom

8. Demands of growing, diverse and ageing populations Cost effectiveness Dwindling/scare resources Reinvigorating/reshaping relationships between citizens and LA’s Improving the experience of citizens/service users/customers Technological innovation and public use/embracing use of/easy access to social media Drivers for LA change in the use of social media

9. “web-based tools and technologies that support online communication and information sharing” (BASW 2012p. ) “web-based services that allow individuals to o construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, o articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and o view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.” (Boyd and Ellison 2007, p.209) (It’s all about communication) What is social media ?

10. What type of users are students? Practitioners? Academics? –Digital resident or visitor? (White and Le Cornu 2011) –Embrace and employ? –Resist and reject? Westwood (2014a) discusses new ways of engaging with students and highlights projects which help them apply theory to practice using social media. Students are sophisticated users of social media for their learning and development and are able to bring their knowledge and skills into practice. How do you engage with social media as a practitioner? Social media in social work education: emerging issues for the training of social workers

11. Individual: concern about workload, always connected, information overload, boundaries, privacy, speed of exchanges and changes in social media platforms, (Bucher et al 2012) online/offline identity (Miller 2013) Organisational: managing the changes in how we communicate and interact with service users, confidentiality, data protection Cultural: Resistance, mistrust and reputation management are obstacles which affect development and growth of social media in LA’s (BDO 2013) What issues are there for using social media in social work practice?

12. “ Social workers should ensure they maintain appropriate professional and personal boundaries and take responsibility for recognising ethical dilemmas presented by the use of different types of social media” (BASW 2012. p. 4) “Social Networking Sites are a part of registrants and students everyday life. We do not have any concerns about you using these sites, so long as you do so within the standards that we set”. HCPC (2012) The fastest growing subject of conduct referrals to the SSSC is online behaviour (SSSC 2012) Professional conduct and social media

13. The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2013/jul/23/social- workers-social-media-challenge-perceptionhttp://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2013/jul/23/social- workers-social-media-challenge-perception “presenting an honest picture of what we do is essential for restoring confidence in our profession” Singh Cooner (2012) Social Work Social Media App https://sites.google.com/site/socialworksocialmedia/ (Westwood 2014 b) https://sites.google.com/site/socialworksocialmedia/ “resolving life like ethical dilemmas” Social Work Book Group https://storify.com/AMLTaylor66/the-use-of-book-clubs-in-social-work-education Can the model be transferred into social work practice? Another side of the social media story

14. CPD: engagement with research, debates and accessing information Online professional profile: All about you Practice and policy developments: Instant and speedy access to the latest resources about policy and practice issues Support networks for social work practitioners Private/closed groups for training or development activities Selecting knowledge Managing time and making study time Opportunities for using social media in social work: professional development

15. Updates for service users about services/changes (change of venue, delays, new services etc…) Virtual meetings with colleagues and multi agency forums; e.g. using Adobe Connect which audio records the meeting for later playback Generating new ideas: discussions leading to changes or developments in practice Enabling dialogue with social work practitioners, academics and service users!! Awareness raising about your service Helpful information for service users and stakeholders Recruiting social workers Opportunities for using social media in social work: professional practice

16. A GP Practice in Ayrshire introduced SMS patient appointment reminders in April 2010. The practice sent out 1200 reminders per month. When compared with previous months, savings reached £15k and £3k respectively as a result of reductions in missed GP and nurse appointments annually. Additionally, there was a marked reduction in people failing to show for appointments (Did Not Attends) per month from 40-50 hours to 20 hours. The Food Standards Agency has developed an app which allows the general public to find the Food Hygiene Rating for restaurants which they’re interested in visiting. You can search by location, business name or postcode and the app includes a radar feature which enables you to point your phone in the direction of a restaurant to find out its rating. Case studies

17. Think differently Communicate all of the benefits Pick the right metrics (how you measure success, not simply numbers) Start small and share your successes BDO 2013 Following the trends: advice and information

18. What ideas do you have to use social media tools in your practice /CPD? Examples: –Closed (Private) Facebook group for children looked after to have contact with their birth families? –Secure web chat for parents attending parenting programme and struggling to implement new boundaries? –Appointment (integrated) reminder for parents/carers who have children with disabilities? –Life story APP? –LAC review APP for young people? –CPD study group –Blogging Over to you…….

19. What's your SM idea? What resources/skills expertise do you need? Who do you need to be “on board” with your idea? What will be the outcome for service users, colleagues or your organisation/team? How will you share information about your SM idea? Action plan

20. BASW (2012) Social Media Policy. http://cdn.basw.co.uk/upload/basw_34634-1.pdfhttp://cdn.basw.co.uk/upload/basw_34634-1.pdf BDO (2012) BDO (2012) From housing and litter to facebook and twitter http://www.bdo.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/186524/BDO_Local_Government_Team_- _Updating_your_status_social_media_report.pdfhttp://www.bdo.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/186524/BDO_Local_Government_Team_- _Updating_your_status_social_media_report.pdf BDO (2013) Following the trends. Results from the 2013 BDO Local Government Social Media Survey – today’s trends and making the most of the medium. Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230. Bucher, E., Fieseler, C., & Suphan, A., (2013) The stress potential of social media in the workplace. Information, Communication & Society Vol. 16, No. 10, December 2013, pp. 1639–1667 HCPC (2012.) Focus on standards: Social Networking Sites http://www.hcpc-uk.org/Assets/documents/100035B7Social_media_guidance.pdfihttp://www.hcpc-uk.org/Assets/documents/100035B7Social_media_guidance.pdf Miller, D., (2013) Future Identities: Changing identities in the UK – the next 10 years: What is the relationship between identities that people construct, express and consume online and those offline? Government office for Science. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/275750/13-504-relationship-between-identities-online-and-offline.pdf Singh Cooner (2012) Social Work Social Media App https://sites.google.com/site/socialworksocialmedia/https://sites.google.com/site/socialworksocialmedia/ SSSC (2012) What is social media http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/new/docs/What_is_Social_Media_-_transcript.pdfhttp://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/new/docs/What_is_Social_Media_-_transcript.pdf Statistics Brain (2014a) Facebook Statistics http://www.statisticbrain.com/facebook-statistics/http://www.statisticbrain.com/facebook-statistics/ Statistics Brain (2014b) Twitter Statistics http://www.statisticbrain.com/twitter-statistics/http://www.statisticbrain.com/twitter-statistics/ White, D.A. and Le Cornu, A (2011) Visitors and Residents: A New Typology for online Engagement: First Monday 16 http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171 http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171 Westwood, J., (2014a) Social Media in Social Work Education. Critical Publishing. Westwood, J. (2014b) Review Social Work and Social Media: An Introduction to Applying Social Work Principles to Social Media. Social Work Education: The International Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2014.884325http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2014.884325 References and resources

21. Setting up a twitter account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byH0VjnkCg4 Community care blog archive: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/community-care-blog-archive/ Whose Shoes? http://nutshellcomms.co.uk/ Social Care : Curry club https://socialcarecurryclub.wordpress.com/ Social work awards https://twitter.com/socialworkaward BASW http://www.basw.co.uk/ Resources