Social media offers significant opportunity for social workers to communicate, connect, collaborate, keep up-to-date with practice developments and engage directly with the individuals who they support. While the digital revolution is not unique to social work, there are few other disciplines where the challenges presented by the use of social media are so blurred and fraught with potential risks to the professional (Jackson, R., 2019). These challenges can create an accompanying unease both at the level of employing organisations and individual practitioners about the potential risks use of social media poses in a professional context.
As a social worker you need to be knowledgeable about social media and other technological advances, you need to be mindful too of how their use might alter power dynamics within relationships and impact practice. Social media poses many ethical and professional dilemmas irrespective of practice context. Even where you may not use social media directly yourself, you may be impacted by how others, including the individuals you support, use it. Social media is a public domain and you should be aware that while online you are still representing the profession and your employing organisation.
Most employers will have social media policies in place which provide guidance on safe use. Similarly, all health and social care regulators have provisions within their codes or standards which relate specifically to use of social media, often underpinned by more detailed guidance. While this guidance cannot reasonably cover every social media situation that you as a registrant may face, it will generally set out broad principles to enable you to think through issues and act in a way that ensures both you and the individuals you support remain safe. It is important therefore that you familiarise yourself with your employer’s guidance on social media use as well as the relevant provisions within your standards of conduct and practice.
The NISCC Standards of Conduct and Practice for Social Workers contain a specific standard relating to social media use [Standard 5:9 ‘You must not use social media or social networking sites or other forms of electronic communication in a way that contravenes professional boundaries, organisational guidelines or the Social Care Council standards’]. It is important to remember that many of the other standards are equally applicable to how you use social media.
Some of the most relevant provisions within the Standards are outlined below:
Fitness to Practise concerns
Below are some examples of concerns that have been raised within Fitness to Practise concerning registrants’ social media use. Click on the arrow to see the examples.
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Top tips for keeping yourself safe on-line
The following are some top tips for using social media in a way which meets our standards:
- Think before you post. Assume that what you post could be shared and read by anyone. A good rule is don’t post when angry or emotional and a general rule of thumb is not to say anything on social media that you wouldn’t be happy to see printed in a newspaper.
- Think about who can see what you share and manage your privacy settings accordingly. Remember that privacy settings cannot guarantee that something you post will not be publicly visible. Many employees assume that posting online from a personal account means their posts are private. This isn’t necessarily the case. What is posted online is probably more public than in the ‘real’ world and can easily reach an audience far beyond what was intended or expected. Even if profiles are set to private, a friend or a connection’s ability to screenshot, copy and forward is not limited.
- Maintain appropriate professional boundaries if you communicate with colleagues, service users or carers.
- Do not post confidential or service user identifiable information.
- Do not post inappropriate or offensive material. Use your professional judgement about whether something you share falls below the professional standards expected of you.
- Follow your employer’s social media policy
- When in doubt, seek advice. Appropriate sources might include experienced colleagues, trade unions and professional bodies.
- Exploit the benefits of social media safey We know that many registrants find using social media beneficial and do so without any issues. There’s no reason why registrants shouldn’t keep on using it with confidence.
Reflective learning exercise
Complete the exercise below and keep a record of your reflections.
Useful additional reading
Considerations for integrating technology into social work practice
We are always interested in ensuring our resources are valuable tools for the workforce and are keen to hear your feedback, or ideas for future topics which could be included in this resource.