18th September 2018

Blog 7
Thing 5; Social Media hashtag1

Read this with a lot of interest because in professional terms I might be viewed by many as something of a 'hostile' to social media in the workplace . Not true actually........

Really it is rather straightforward in that as one of the articles in the reading list suggests social media has a great deal to offer in terms of networking and communication, I am just unconvinced as another suggests that 'controls' we exercise (personal & professional) are much the same as every day interaction where similar decisions require to be made about content in relation to context and audience. Scale, permanency, speed of transmission and pressure make all the difference.
How well thought through can all our online comments be during or at the end of a busy day.

So of course I read all the material with great interest happy to be proven wrong.....in the end wasn't convinced about a different direction.

The fitness to practice notes and video are helpful for workers who are invited to review their practical understanding of professional v personal conduct  and specifically how information is delivered and received and whether our messages and actions about who and how we communicate with are informed be they identified groups and individuals, friends, colleagues or vulnerable individuals who we support or potentially support. Case examples are such a good way of working though dilemmas and workers can readily pinpoint breach of professional principles such as dignity, confidentiality, respect, privacy, protection etc for themselves. I completed one of the optional scenario's on Kelly and felt it was a good one for residential workers as it offered an every day example of the kind of 'trap' individuals can fall into with heart ruling head if this topic is not kept high on the unit agenda. I would do this in a team meeting because I felt the feedback was well informed.
Having reviewed our relevant organisational policies I felt they were sound because use of social media sits in the context of IT Information and Communication, and Secure Transmission which is long but divided into manageable sections. This is complemented by Data Protection including consents for photographic material to be shared and the pros and cons.
I felt that the material offered through this course was a helpful addition to a workers toolbox to reinforce the different ways in which social media communication can breach the spirit and/or letter of the Fitness to Practice. The article of considerations (open, audience, contact, context) heightens everyone's awareness of the complexity and need for attention to detail. Of the two articles (How to separate Public and Professional and Social Workers cannot ignore Social Media), I felt the first highlighted to complications of social media communication and how we might get it right. This made me think that all companies need someone in charge monitoring social media posts because the lines can get blurred so easily. The Guardian article reminded me of the pressure I felt as a manager to engage with Facebook and Twitter in order to raise the charity's profile and early on in our history we had to make a decision about whether to give in & go with the flow or resist. At the time I checked other people's pages and found an element of self promotion that made the Board and I slightly uncomfortable as well as anxious  about how we would manage content in the long run. We wondered whether 'having a large following' really mattered for a modestly sized voluntary organisation. We did not go down that route and the Communication Strategy we adopted relied far more on face to face interaction, leafleting and a website which at the time we found to be more consistent with the professional task of helping vulnerable individuals. Over the years we dabbled a little mainly for recruitment of volunteers but overall thought that we did not miss out by not having a large Facebook or Twitter base since we were not a major competitor in the contracts market and as an organisation were concerned about vulnerable individuals and how to better help them in ways that were respectful.

But sure.... we can't ignore social media. Whether in relation to Policy or Personal Use

 And we didn't.
It is after all a natural form of communication for young people and young workers especially.
Company policy should lay out the merits as well as the pitfalls and staff responsibilities therein. Nearly all our policies cross referenced to others. So for example Child Protection reporting connects with specific CSE policy and also cross references to Data Protection with specific policy on consent to Take and/or Publish Photographs and each is referred to in the IT Security guidance suite. This cross referencing and repetition helps workers and managers have more informed discussion about individual responsibilities and possible unintended consequences of failing to think through or be meticulous about decisions in regard to personal, professional and company content. I think that informal discussion helps sharpen workers awareness of risks to be avoided.

Most staff in my experience use social media in their personal lives - most commonly, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat. Some of the more senior individuals like myself would use more restricted platforms such as Linked In so discussion in meetings was informed. Significant social incidents were often shared as a learning experience and this could include individual social media mishaps.  For example young people airing grievances about each other on Facebook provided the opportunity to educate ourselves and young people on circumstances where 'offenses' as well as offense could occur.

Young people can of course be very active on social media and my team were often checking  security ratings of platforms used by young people. Currently a girls group is again keen to share their group experiences with each other using Facebook and  this time round their worker is looking to link this to an improved prep training for them. I have suggested she looks at Thing 8 on Facebook as coverage is good . This could be a good experience for the young people who frequently become victims through not exercising enough care on networking platforms or get carried away with inappropriate posts in the heat of the moment..

As organisation manager I placed great store on spoken communication and debrief, manager to worker, team talk, or with young people unpicking the day's good and less good points in face to face conversation with their workers. I believe that this safe but critical sharing helped us avoid inappropriate relating online, venting in unhelpful ways or blurring professional boundaries whether with young people or colleagues. As a group we were learning informally about the distinguishing features of Public and Private or Professional and Personal because face to face conversation can be at a gentler pace and more nurturing than social media.

I concluded it is true as the reading makes clear (including SSSC Social Media) that the rules we  follow in communication are not rules only because of social media's existence.........and if we don't have an every day grasp of what these concepts mean in all work related activity, it will quickly become apparent when we enter the digital world where issues are magnified. We must always tread carefully.

Equally we need workers to be social media savvy alert to risks but also in a position to guide young people on safe contact and content; private versus public and what these mean in practice.