Whenever you hear the context of social work in social media, it primarily generates unlikely images of disciplinary hearings and confidentiality breaches. But on the contrary, incorporating social media in social work could be very beneficial and will serve as a productive outlet for many social workers who want to show to everyone a glimpse of their world and of what it truly means to become one.
It’s inevitable for some social workers to get hesitant about involving in social media and that’s perfectly understandable. Most of them just don’t want to break the law and boundaries between them and their clients. With almost 3 billion active social media users, it’s easy to see the picture. One wrong post and your career will be in jeopardy.
The good news though, is that there are professional ways to connect to your clients, gather support from your colleagues and improve your knowledge. Below are five ways social media can aid social workers.
Feed Yourself With Information
Social workers will learn about social work through reading books and case studies. However, one fact remains – social work is ever-changing and changes its mode as fast as people do. To keep updated with the changing practices, one needs to plug in online, in social media for starters.
For example, you can follow and keep tabs on different social work centers through their social channels to learn more about their practices as well as the practices in another country. You can also follow different companies with blog posting service and check their blogs for case studies and informative contents.
Or if you’re working with victims of recent calamities and natural disasters, you can check the sentiments of these people about their situation through browsing for different feeds online from the locals rather than depending on the hand-me-down information that local authorities provide.
Reach Out And Create A Positive Influence
The beauty of social media is that it allows you to connect with your clients and your colleagues. You can also reach out to people with disabilities and other types of limitations that hinder them from reaching out social workers due to their condition and struggles of getting around.
For instance, if you have a social media account, they can just look for you online and ask for assistance if they can’t obtain the help they need. Furthermore, social media also enables you to reach out more people since it only takes less energy and time compared to making phone calls to just to check in for people.
Build Professional Identity
Most often than not, social workers face challenges when it comes to creating a professional persona. Social media platforms furnish a solid ground for establishing that identity. It also allows you to share serviceable links to credible organizations.
You can show to everyone that a commonly overlooked profession should get more credibility and attention. What you can do is acquire clients who best match the skills that you have. You can also provide and share useful contents about your profession and industry that your followers can read. For this matter, you can collaborate with a company that offers guest blog posting service to produce the contents you want.
Breed A Discussion
The ability to create a group discussion is probably one of the most positive aspects of social media for social workers. When you create conversations in social media, you’re doing it with an audience. You’re performing a useful knowledge for your co-workers, your clients, and students as well.
You can start by addressing a particular issue or topic about social work and encourage your followers and friends on social media to participate by throwing in suggestions, opinions, and experiences. You can also employ for a guest blog service to create contents that will meet your goals.
Apart from the interaction, you also open the doors of opportunities for others who get cold shoulders or have a limited voice. You know very well that representing the side of unmerited people is a big interest among social workers.
Build And Reinforce
It’s inevitable sometimes for many social workers and the people they serve to feel alone and isolated. Social media is a great platform to get care and support that you need. You’ll be able to share your experiences and get a response from your comrades in social work who know the emotional struggles of helping people with a lot of incapabilities.
You can keep in touch with your former clients by leaving a positive comment or doing a quick check on them through social media channels. Social workers, just like social networking, is always at the center of everything which makes it crucial in supporting and connecting the people around them. Your job, your life and those people you help are better off if you participate and join.
Takeaway
We’re now living in a digital era where digitization influence almost every facet of our lives, be it at home, school or work – we are under the influence of digital revolution. It’s no longer surprising that it also invade the social work industry. With too many changes and development taking place left and right, there’s no better way to us than to adapt them and go forward. And social work is no exception.
