Social Media Strategy Guide
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Social Media Strategy Guide
- 1. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Social Media Strategy Dr Bex Lewis, Digital Fingerprint URL: http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/norwich-october-2013 October 2013 for: http://www.dioceseofnorwich.org
- 5. Let‟s “tweet” each other…
- 6. SOCIAL media
- 7. "If you want to build a presence in the social media platform, then you need to be present." - @unmarketing
- 9. A plan of action resulting from strategy or intended to accomplish a specific goal.
- 10. Social Media: More than the cherry on the cake! Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 11. The Big Questions •Why •Who •What •Where •When • To achieve what? • How do the digital tools help achieve this?
- 12. WHY?
- 13. The Church Front Door? • For many churchgoing is no longer the ‘cultural norm’. People don’t actively ignore the church: they don’t even think about it. Matthew 5:13-16 calls us to be salt and light in the world, and for thousands in the ‘digital age’, that world includes social networks such Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. With literally billions in the digital spaces, the online social spaces presented by churches need to be appealing, welcoming, and not look like they are just an afterthought: they are now effectively the ‘front door’ to your church for digital users, and you ignore those spaces at your peril. http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowt h/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age Image Credit: Sxc.hu
- 14. • We are not selling something to the world that will make more people like us, believe in our story, join our churches. We are trying to be something in the world that invites connection and compassion, encourages comfort and healing for those in need, and challenges those in power to use that power in the service of justice and love • (Drescher, 127)
- 15. WHO?
- 16. Who is your audience? Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 17. DISCUSS: Your audience • Turn to person next to you. • Who are you interested in reaching/listening to? • What ‘problems’ are you seeking to solve for them? Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 19. Push/Pull Media… Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 20. Who are you? • What are your values? • What do you stand for? • What is your ‘tone of voice’? • What can you contribute to the conversation? • Locally? • Nationally? • Globally?
- 21. WHAT?
- 22. •What do you have in place now, and what tools are you already using? Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 23. A Clear Plan • Avoids • Wasted Time • Wasted Effort • Backlash from those who don’t see social media as ‘working’ • Social Media fatigue • Missed Opportunities Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 24. “Call to Action” • Those were the more creative ones. But the majority read like this: • Do mail your acceptance to me today. • So act right now. The postage is paid and you’ve got nothing to lose but a great garden to gain! • SEND NO MONEY NOW! But please mail your card today! • So if you’re looking for knowledge, a rewarding adventure, and the advantage a future perspective can offer, mail the enclosed card today! • http://blog.crazyegg.com/2013/07/24/call-toaction-examples/
- 25. “Call to Action” • Don’t make it too complicated to participate • Define an (easy) action • Define the (simple) benefit(s) • Give a (short) time frame Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 26. Shareability • Knowing • Your Audience • Your Values • What motivates you to share? • Funny? • Poignant? • For a particular person? http://bzevents.com/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2012/09/Instagram-wedding-
- 28. Networks of Networks Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 34. The Power of Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/TCWomancom/
- 36. RT: The Power of the Retweet Image Credit: Twitter.com
- 37. You may also commonly see…. •MT •HT Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 38. COPYRIGHT Really important to be aware of…!!
- 39. Image Sources, e.g. • FREE • Flickr Creative Commons: http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons • http://www.sxc.hu • http://rgbstock.com • http://www.freebibleimages.org • Morguefile.com • PAID • http://seedresources.com (Christian) • http://stockfresh.com/ • http://iStockPhoto.com Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 41. LUNCH Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 42. Don‟t look to “publish” but engage in a CONVERSATION http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1382970
- 43. WHERE
- 44. What‟s in the toolbox? Image Credit: Purchased iStockphoto
- 47. Choose Who to Share With
- 51. BigRead: Group
- 52. Event
- 53. Pastoral Care: Facebook Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 55. Manage Expectations •Use the 160 character bio well… •Who •When •What
- 56. Hashtags Explained Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 58. Tweeting in Church? • Good Thing? • Bad Thing? • Why might/might not people tweet in church? • What might encourage more ‘engagement’? Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 59. Train Tweets
- 65. Blogging? Think About • Who are you blogging for? • How often can you blog? • What style of blog will you use? • What content can you produce? • What do you want Google to find? • Who else can you bring on board?
- 66. Ideas for Content? • “See what we‟ve been up to” • Thoughts & Reflections • Reviews (Books, films, websites, etc) • Challenging ideas for debate • Interviews (Text, Audio, Video) • „Best Of‟ Content • „How-to‟ Posts • 10 things you can… • Guest Posts Image credit: RGBStock
- 69. Simple ideas for Video: • Set up a channel, e.g. http://www.youtube.com/mybigbible • Think of the STORIES you have to tell, and how you might tell them – no need for BBC production values • • • • Events: Before/After Sermons: Quick Overviews/Responses People & Their Lives What can you “How To”? • Engage with other‟s videos: • Comment (no flaming) • Blog about them • Add to favourites/playlist
- 70. YouTube: “How To Pray” http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+pray&oq=how+to+pray&gs_l=youtube .3...446.1821.0.1890.11.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.
- 75. Problem Solving Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 76. WHEN?
- 77. When? It takes TIME… Source: http://www.rgbstock.com/download/lusi/mgyp0Lm.jpg
- 79. Discuss: Keywords Image Credit: Purchased Stockfresh
- 84. Google Docs
- 86. What is required? • Back to: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE? • What feels ‘acceptable’ as a starting point? • Platform? • Frequency? • Personal/Organisational? • Shared? • What will your “KPIs” look like? Can such things be defined in numbers? • Sustained is better than ‘energy burst’ followed by ‘dead space’…
- 87. Don‟t forget… Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 88. Agree a (flexible) Social Media Policy Image credit: SXC.Hu
- 89. http://www.methodist.org.uk/ministers-andoffice-holders/technology-and-church/socialmedia-guidelines • • • • The principles applied to this are: Be credible. Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent. Be consistent. Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation. Be cordial, honest and professional at all times. Be responsive. When you gain insight, share it where appropriate. • Be integrated. Wherever possible, align online participation with other communications. • Be a good representative of the Methodist Church. Remember that you are an ambassador for Christ, the Church and your part of it. Disclose your position as a member or officer of the Church, making it clear when speaking personally. Let Galatians 5:22-26 guide your behaviour. • Be respectful: respect confidentiality. Respect the views of others even where you disagree.
- 90. http://twitterforchurches.com/blog/2009/06/29/crisiscommunications-for-the-social-media-age/ Don’t overthink. Running through committees, endless drafts and approval processes to get a response out there can cause far more damage than good. As long as you have taken the time to assess the situation and can take a rational, respectful tone in your response, even an awkward response is OK to start with, and buys you time to continue to respond to the problem.
- 91. Principles of Good Engagement •Be interesting •Be encouraging •Be active •Be helpful •Be authentic Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 92. “AMPLIFY” aka Share! Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 94. Youth Leaders: A Few Thoughts! • Look for the opportunities for discussion and connection • Build into policies about e.g. dealing with pastoral issues. • Establish accountability procedures, e.g. another youth leader in Private Message conversations • Ensure your groups understand you can’t give counselling and may have to pass on the information they share if at harm • Define curfews and acceptability of what can be shared – publically or privately Advice from Paul Windo, Urban Saints
- 95. Youth Leaders: A Few Thoughts! • Permissions/Consent • Seek permissions from parents for contacting young people via email, mobile or other platform. • Establish consent for the use of photographs for publicity, on group websites, or placing on Facebook. • Consider creating a catchall statement to place upon registration forms, which assumes these permissions unless parents opt-out. • Language • Use clear, unambiguous language, avoiding abbreviations that can be mis-interpreted. For example LOL typically means ‘Laugh Out Loud’, but can also read as ‘Lots of Love’. • Take care how you sign off in communications. Avoid e.g. “luv” or “xxx” Advice from Paul Windo, Urban Saints Image Credit: Stockfresh
Notes de l'éditeur
- http://www.dioceseofnorwich.org/event?id=5853Are you already using social media? This half-day workshop will allow you to develop your social media strategy, by giving you time to think about what you want to achieve, what you can build upon, and some recommendations as to how to use the core tools (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs) more strategically. The session will include time to discuss your experience with social media with others in a small group context.Who is the course for?Anyone with a working knowledge of social media, who wants to develop simple strategies to use the most popular social media tools more efficiently and effectively. What will you learn?· Taking stock of what’s already going on in your church, its values and goals, and how social media can enhance and augment this.· How to define your target audiences, and creating personas to better communicate with them.· How to define your 'call to action', and apply this to what you do online.· Specific advice as to the use of Twitter, Facebook (Groups/Pages), and blogging: understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each, and how these will affect when and how you use each of them.· How to create a manageable and sustainable social media strategy, allowing time to do your other work.
- Something about me … often gets people talking to me – esp if I wear t-shirt as in my Twitter photo…
- [Form: Twitter exercise]
- The pink thing in the background – my book cover… Covers a lot of digital culture, designed to take the fear out of using it – seen as the biggest sticking point for most… so useful for all, but with particular focus on those aspects that affect kids
- Social Media – all about RELATIONSHIPS, so we are going to start by getting to know each other as if we are on Twitter… 60 seconds in pairs to find out something new about the other, that you have in common – that’s not that you'
- Commonality – finding a starting point & getting to know each other – essential building blocks of any evangelism, etc… with a strong focus on LISTENING! You’re looking to provide information, engage in dialogue, listen to your audience … build a community who will be interested in the other things that you do .. Expect that these next few days will take some time to digest … it can seem like a lot of information, but this is intended to challenge, enable strategy and move us forward.
- Why do you need it? Get responses – expecting e.g. save time, make best use of your time, it’s all limited, etc..
- http://stockfresh.com/image/3098998/chocolate-cake-with-fresh-berry
- Now, these may surprise you, as you may expect that I come in, tools first, and say “let’s do it all digitally”, but as it has been for many years, and will be for many more – we should start with the PROBLEM(S) that need solving, and then look at how the digital fits into the mix.
- Let’s think about what you might want to ACHIEVE with social media, what do you want to DO?Not just because everyone else has it, although that can be a legitimate reason for experimenting – but experiment within limits…
- Thechurch is just not on many people’s radar .. On a Sunday the Cathedrals of the shopping mall and the football pitch draw people in and provide the social spaces that people used to get from the church… so is there something else that Christians are seeking to offer… (But also need care that not using that space just to promote what you doing … if the church community gets onboard can see ‘true community’)
- Building relationships takes time, but church has never been about “bums on seats”, so much as about encouraging those who attend to live full lives of discipleship. Many of those who enjoy the digital spaces are skeptical about being ‘preached to’. We live in a world of “pull” rather than “push” media (show me why I will be interested, rather than tell me I should be interested), but as Elizabeth Drescher says:We are not selling something to the world that will make more people like us, believe in our story, join our churches. We are trying to be something in the world that invites connection and compassion, encourages comfort and healing for those in need, and challenges those in power to use that power in the service of justice and love (Drescher, 127).
- Are you listening to them, producing something for them, or for yourself, … e.g. Old Spice campaign – designed because they realised men weren’t buying it, but women buying it for their men to smell nice… so if you’re trying to get people into church, who are you seeking to reach?
- Problems – are there any have an idea of where the digital might help? Then feed back in – will we have a flipboard … let’s hold onto some of those, and start to think about what digital tools might help solve them…
- “Does Sam exist in real-life? Probably not exactly like this. But that’s not the point. The point is they have a target. They know who they’re going after. Do you?”Take time to create rough personas of those that you are trying to reach – they have a name, an age, characteristics – help you keep them in mind whilst you are preparing communication – not what you say, what they hear…
- Thinking through how things have changed – we don’t PUSH the message at people – we seek to be intriguing and draw them in…
- Stand for, rather than against. If can agree this – removes the pressure from any one person - discuss
- Use flipchart board to draw a spider diagram summarising what people are already involved in. Discuss similarities/differences (learn from each other), and start to see where social media already fits/where it may be expanded. OR can scribble into PPT itself…
- Without a clear plan, you can end up diving into everything and scattering yourselves too thin, which is not helpful! Or end up not engaging at all..A clear plan = avoids wasted time, effort, backlash from those who think you are ‘playing’ rather than working. Avoid social media fatigue (Twitter/3 months!), or missing opportunities (all the opps I’ve had via Twitter).However, DO leave space for experimentation in the strategy.
- Don’t block entry to the site, demanding an email address before allowing entry…
- What would this look like on a church website – e.g. the final “don’t” would be asking for a commitment to church membership, or to Jesus, before allowing further entry… but find out where people are/what connects with them, allow them to try things for ‘free’ without feeling like they have to give it all in, encourage now/soon (though I don’t like – do this or it closes in 3 days kind of things.. I feel played – let me know you’ve got a great deal, long-term … isn’t that what we have – time limited by life-span but only God knows that…
- Based on knowledge of that audience, and/or yourself – but don’t assume everyone the same as you –Steve Fogg // encourages people to contribute BEFORE sermon, etc. put hashtag up in church…
- As a result of these, people get involved in conversation – with similar on FB, had 3 people ask to come to church… but this requires that churches = GIVE PERSMISSION = encourage people to participate digitally BUT never force… Come back to discuss pros/cons of this after break?
- If I share something on my own page – far more likely to pick up comments than if it’s on BB’s page…
- Within the church we need to think about how we engage more - this is the model many churches have now… (as a educational developer, I note that many teachers do this too….)
- Can we move towards something more like this – what does this mean for church leaders, especially you as youth leaders…? What can you celebrate about your community … what pictures can you take that will make people want to tag themselves, join in, etc?
- The importance of the visual – and tools such as Pinterest…
- If you’re a church, draw the congregation in – get them to champion what you are doing – so give them semething to believe in/want to share … genuinely – e.g. CofE campaigns #everythingchanges?! #christmasstarts
- Explain send one small message and cascades out .. Message gets bigger with each RT – I have 5k followers, someone with 30k RTs – they are saying message is worth listening to .. And all their audience may see it too.
- ModeratedRetweet (esp to make it shorter), and Hat-Tip … all about collaboration, acknowledging the source, etc…
- So – plenty to mull over there in the break time. Got a slightly more condensed session after the break… working our way through a range of tools!! So caffeine up!
- A reminder… Not PUBLISHING, but looking for CONVERSATIONS/relationship building … if all you ever do is effectively publish notices, why should I spend my time following you?
- Get to understand the different platforms, the mix of offline/online that’s required … so part of this, want to look at the problems that came up earlier … let’s have a look at a few examples online – may be some conversation, then use time towards the end to actively put some plans in place…
- With guidance from the facilitator, discuss which (mix of) social media tools seem to be most appropriate.
- If you don’t know the different tools…. See this document…
- Personal profile – can choose particular groups of people to share with, so could create a list of church people and family – then just ensure share with the right people…
- If you’re going to have a FB page – worth having a description like this – what is/isn’t acceptable…
- How much can we find out about people – how many people can we reach – not the hugest of numbers, but think compared to average congregation… is a bit of a game of numbers..
- 3 types of groups .. Open, closed, private…
- Check understand difference – profile, page, group, event … what might pastoral care look like? Can also be done on Twitter Direct Messages… Can deal with more people in a quicker time, but don’t forget to be aware of when f2f is required… Who’s going to look after it?Where is the list of people to be referred to if the situation gets sticky, etc…
- Tea & Toast – serving a real need – ended up gaining new members of the church – online/offline mix…
- Who is going to do this? When aka “how often” (twice a month = lost)? What content is worth sharing – each tweet doesn’t need to be a mini “War & Peace” but also let’s not have too many breakfast tweets…
- How many to use, how to create a new one, how to advertise them in church, etc. prospective pitfalls.. Keep it short, consistent, advertise it before the service, let people know about it (don’t try and take over an organic hashtag), make sure it makes sense and that it’s not already in use for something else…
- Are there conversations you can genuinely join in on? E.g. this will be on Channel 5 in December…
- Why might they want to/not want to tweet about church? Recognise the assumptions that you might be making about them? What might encourage ‘engagement’ that’s more than a like…
- Discuss – what like about this – timeliness, friendliness, taking responsibility even though it was for a different company…
- Best advice – go and look at some other sites that you like/don’t like and start to use in own line of work…
- 7 min vid – not planning to show all!
- YouTube = 2nd largest search engine … often for ‘how to….’ – how might we change what comes up at the top of the search rankings – bearing in mind just creating something won’t appear…
- 1:47 – what puts this kind of smile on a child’s face – and would you guess the brand before the end if you didn’t already know?
- 1:40 – v. clever – tapping into a huge phenomenon … finding the right hooks…You’ll see we’re looking to the secular world for inspiration here … we are in the world (if not of it) – how do we speak to people…
- What do people have time/inclination for? People find it easy to write/read … increasing numbers using these formats though – don’t forget about them… carry audio recorder around..
- Want more on podcasts – check these links out..
- What do we need to do with the problems that we identified before lunch?
- Social Media may be free – may need to allocate time, something else may have to give…
- Collecting stories without having to search…
- What keywords are people going to be searching for you for … make a list…doesn’t have to be definitive – keep working on it… note ‘the long tail’…
- Here’s my suggestions for a ‘daily workout’ – anticipated to take around 20 minutes a day… worth the investment – really has to look active to generate interest!
- Opportunities to schedule tweets, etc…
- The ‘Conversation’ Prism.. : There’s so many tools you CAN use…
- How to create a manageable and sustainable social media strategy.Which Media?;Who?; How often?; To achieve what?
- Social Media shouldn’t be an add-on, but should be considered in everything else that you’re doing… put links to the pages/Twitter name, etc. in church notice sheets, and publicity, etc…
- If you are working for an organisation – e.g. a church – ensure that people can feel ‘free’ to go ahead and represent you …not having
- … and don’t forget the cat.
- Remember what we said about importance of person to person … our #digidisciple(s) get far more response from personal shares than organisational shares… but if you can get the original share from an organisational page, etc…
- Youth Workers/LeadersSimilar advice to that for teachers applies to many in youth work, including taking particular care over the information you share online. A 2009 survey emphasized that many in youth work end up engaging and working with socially excluded young people and young people with complex needs. These groups may lack the access to technology, and are more vulnerable to risks when they are engaged with online social networking. Paul Windo, Communications Manager for Urban Saints, emphasises that youth leaders have great opportunities to befriend the young people they work with, and to engage them in debates about issues such as identity, self-worth, belonging, and integrity. There are also great opportunities to make use of the tools in a practical way: As a youth leader, it is a very convenient way of messaging and informing members of our youth group, and inviting them to events and [connecting with] each other when we're not together… Sadly for your child to be the only one in a group NOT to have access to Facebook can itself be a matter for isolation - they may not get invitations to youth events for example, and ridicule and bullying for being the 'odd one out'. (Parent, 16-19) Policies and GuidelinesSocial media needs to be considered within overall policy decisions, including developing policies for how youth leaders will deal with pastoral questions, and suicidal “cries for help”, including an easily accessible list of contacts available for staff to use. Paul Windo returns to give us some advice: Permissions/ConsentSeek permissions from parents for contacting young people via email, mobile or other platform. Establish consent for the use of photographs for publicity, on group websites, or placing on Facebook. Consider creating a catchall statement to place upon registration forms, which assumes these permissions unless parents opt-out. LanguageUse clear, unambiguous language, avoiding abbreviations that can be mis-interpreted. For example LOL typically means ‘Laugh Out Loud’, but can also read as ‘Lots of Love’. Take care how you sign off in communications. Avoid e.g. “luv” or “xxx”.Protecting Yourself as a Youth LeaderIn using communications technology, great care must be taken to ensure that both the young people and the leaders/workers responsible are not put at risk and that there are clear boundaries in place and means of accountability provided. AccountabilityPublish and display ‘guidelines’ that both leaders and young people have contributed to – especially where there is unsupervised Internet usage. Be prepared to allow access to your social networking accounts to your line manager.If you would have a second leader in the room if you were meeting face-to-face, ensure that others are CC into emails or Facebook messages. Save any potentially abusive emails, or disclosures of abuse, either for future reference, or to be passed onto the appropriate person. ConfidentialityIn digital communications with youth/children, be aware that they may be prepared to disclose more than they would face-to-face. Ensure that those in your groups understand that you are not qualified to provide counselling (unless you are!), but can give general advice within a personal capacity. Consider adding a disclaimer such as this as to what you may do with their information: If there is a concern, e.g. that the sender or someone else, particularly a child, may be at risk of serious harm, we may need to share those concerns. In such circumstances we would inform the sender giving details of who would be contacted and what information would be given. BoundariesConsider having a dedicated mobile phone/social-networking page specifically for work, which provides more accountable interaction with young people and protects your personal privacy. Note that Facebook terms and conditions do not allow users to have more than one profile.It’s not recommended to keep images of young people on personal devices – these should be downloaded and stored on organisational devices. Define curfews for exchanges of instant/direct messaging on social media.Some further resourceshttp://network.youthworkonline.org.ukAn online community to debate the impact of digital technologies on work with young people; and about the policy or practices of digital youth work. http://www.youthworkessentials.orgDeveloped by ‘You Scotland’, a set of resources designed to help you develop quality and inclusive programmes for young people. http://youthworktoolbox.comA site set up by a UK practitioner to share advice, guidance and resources, which have all been tested and proven to be effective. http://www.cypnow.co.uk/category/disciplines/youth-workAn offshoot of the magazine designed for professionals working in the sector. ‘Youth Work and Social Networking Final Research Report’, Tim Davies and Pete Cranston, http://blog.practicalparticipation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/fullYouth-Work-and-Social-Networking-Final-Report.pdf, September 2008‘Help – I want to communicate safely’ http://www.ccpas.co.uk/keyfacts/
- Youth Workers/LeadersSimilar advice to that for teachers applies to many in youth work, including taking particular care over the information you share online. A 2009 survey emphasized that many in youth work end up engaging and working with socially excluded young people and young people with complex needs. These groups may lack the access to technology, and are more vulnerable to risks when they are engaged with online social networking. Paul Windo, Communications Manager for Urban Saints, emphasises that youth leaders have great opportunities to befriend the young people they work with, and to engage them in debates about issues such as identity, self-worth, belonging, and integrity. There are also great opportunities to make use of the tools in a practical way: As a youth leader, it is a very convenient way of messaging and informing members of our youth group, and inviting them to events and [connecting with] each other when we're not together… Sadly for your child to be the only one in a group NOT to have access to Facebook can itself be a matter for isolation - they may not get invitations to youth events for example, and ridicule and bullying for being the 'odd one out'. (Parent, 16-19) Policies and GuidelinesSocial media needs to be considered within overall policy decisions, including developing policies for how youth leaders will deal with pastoral questions, and suicidal “cries for help”, including an easily accessible list of contacts available for staff to use. Paul Windo returns to give us some advice: Permissions/ConsentSeek permissions from parents for contacting young people via email, mobile or other platform. Establish consent for the use of photographs for publicity, on group websites, or placing on Facebook. Consider creating a catchall statement to place upon registration forms, which assumes these permissions unless parents opt-out. LanguageUse clear, unambiguous language, avoiding abbreviations that can be mis-interpreted. For example LOL typically means ‘Laugh Out Loud’, but can also read as ‘Lots of Love’. Take care how you sign off in communications. Avoid e.g. “luv” or “xxx”.Protecting Yourself as a Youth LeaderIn using communications technology, great care must be taken to ensure that both the young people and the leaders/workers responsible are not put at risk and that there are clear boundaries in place and means of accountability provided. AccountabilityPublish and display ‘guidelines’ that both leaders and young people have contributed to – especially where there is unsupervised Internet usage. Be prepared to allow access to your social networking accounts to your line manager.If you would have a second leader in the room if you were meeting face-to-face, ensure that others are CC into emails or Facebook messages. Save any potentially abusive emails, or disclosures of abuse, either for future reference, or to be passed onto the appropriate person. ConfidentialityIn digital communications with youth/children, be aware that they may be prepared to disclose more than they would face-to-face. Ensure that those in your groups understand that you are not qualified to provide counselling (unless you are!), but can give general advice within a personal capacity. Consider adding a disclaimer such as this as to what you may do with their information: If there is a concern, e.g. that the sender or someone else, particularly a child, may be at risk of serious harm, we may need to share those concerns. In such circumstances we would inform the sender giving details of who would be contacted and what information would be given. BoundariesConsider having a dedicated mobile phone/social-networking page specifically for work, which provides more accountable interaction with young people and protects your personal privacy. Note that Facebook terms and conditions do not allow users to have more than one profile.It’s not recommended to keep images of young people on personal devices – these should be downloaded and stored on organisational devices. Define curfews for exchanges of instant/direct messaging on social media.Some further resourceshttp://network.youthworkonline.org.ukAn online community to debate the impact of digital technologies on work with young people; and about the policy or practices of digital youth work. http://www.youthworkessentials.orgDeveloped by ‘You Scotland’, a set of resources designed to help you develop quality and inclusive programmes for young people. http://youthworktoolbox.comA site set up by a UK practitioner to share advice, guidance and resources, which have all been tested and proven to be effective. http://www.cypnow.co.uk/category/disciplines/youth-workAn offshoot of the magazine designed for professionals working in the sector. ‘Youth Work and Social Networking Final Research Report’, Tim Davies and Pete Cranston, http://blog.practicalparticipation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/fullYouth-Work-and-Social-Networking-Final-Report.pdf, September 2008‘Help – I want to communicate safely’ http://www.ccpas.co.uk/keyfacts/
- Final word – remember – there is always a human being at the other end of the keyboard… think before you type…Questions?