BASW Policy SOCIAL MEDIA

Purpose

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The purpose of this policy is to clarify what BASWconsiders to be the professional responsibilities ofsocial workers and social work students, in relation tothe increasing use of social media. As a professionalbody across the UK, BASW has developed a policy tosupport members to use social media appropriatelyand ensure practice is based on the BASW Code ofEthics.1

BASW recognises the opportunities and challenges socialmedia presents for social workers in their practice andthe possible risks both for social workers and serviceusers, particularly young people or other vulnerablepeople. The policy may need to be updated as thedynamic nature of social media evolves, but the particularprinciples of the Code of Ethics will remain the same andwill be referenced in the policy by an accompanyingnumber in brackets.

BASW encourages the positive uses of social media fornetworking, communication and developing inclusivepractice.

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Benefits and disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Professionally appropriate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Security and privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Responsibility, confidentiality and privacy . . . . 8

Support and advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Continuing Professional Development . . . . . 10

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Useful links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Contents

Copies of this policy are downloadable at:

www.basw.co.uk/policies

British Association of Social Workers (2018)BASW Policy: Social Media. Birmingham: BASW

Social media can enhance communication and be usedas a positive tool in social work. BASW believes that goodpractice in social media is no different from that in anyother form of communication. Social workers shouldensure they maintain appropriate professional andpersonal boundaries and take responsibility forrecognising ethical dilemmas presented by the use ofdifferent types of social media.

The virtual world provides social workers with many real-life issues and there will be many professional dilemmasthat arise for social workers, regardless of their area ofpractice. For example, it may be that a looked after childin your care is using social media to contact their birthfamily - a contact order to the contrary, or that you findyour picture, name and address has been posted on theinternet by a hostile group or individual. Social workersmay also never have used social media themselves butmay still find themselves confronted by practicedilemmas due to other people’s use of social media.

BASW recognises that new technology changes powerrelations and places a responsibility on professionals toconsider its implications for their practice, their servicesand for the interests of service users. Social workers needto be aware of and knowledgeable about technologicaldevelopments and understand the impact, use andadvantages as well as possible ethical concerns and risks

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in relation to themselves, the people they are workingwith and their employers.

The growing use of social media means that socialworkers need to reflect on the changing nature ofcommunication and how this impacts on practice issuesat the heart of social work, particularly the collection anduse of information about and by individuals (3.5) and howto maintain the service users right to a relationship ofmutual trust, privacy and confidentiality (3.10)

It is intended that the Social Media Policy should apply tosocial workers in all UK countries. The policy is primarilyfor social workers but is also important for employers aswell as education and training providers. BASW stronglyrecommends that employers have a strategy, policy andcode of practice for staff in relation to social media,which is proactive, supports professional developmentand greater e-professionalism for social workers andothers working with children and adults. The BASW policywill be reviewed regularly and the BASW website willenable access to the latest advice, guidance andexamples of practice.

Context

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The evolution of social media has enabled social workers across the world to share knowledge andinformation, debate critical issues, provide support and connect with others who share interests. It helpssocial workers keep up-to-date with developments in policy, social work and related professions. This iscontributing to the development of social workers professional identity as an international profession basedon values of human rights and social justice.

Social workers are increasingly likely to participate inonline communities of people, including service users,who have a common interest in policy and practiceissues. Social media can help individuals andorganisations to better understand, engage with andrespond to people. It can contribute to making servicesmore transparent and accountable. The use of socialtechnology and social networking enables people tocollaborate, build relationships and share informationand resources. Proactive engagement in social mediacan provide a ‘facilitative platform for achieving socialwork’s main objectives of greater equity and enhancedsocial justice and an opportunity for challenging powerimbalances and exclusion imposed by structuralhierarchies. It can reclaim power through creation ofnew spaces for dialogue and a more dynamic socialinteraction’.

In the same way that online tools and social media havechanged how people run their social lives and enjoyentertainment, technology has the capacity to bring abouta radical shift in care services and change how families carefor people alongside work, family, community and sociallives. Social workers will need to be competent in usingtechnology, for solving problems and using it creatively, forexample, care packages can be coordinated betweenworkers and family members using online ‘apps’ andreviewing and purchasing care or sharing records online.

E-professionalism is a term that is starting to be used, whichgoes beyond online communication. It involves the abilityto understand and use social media and also how to developand manage “the online persona of an individual based onthe meaning of their online postings and interactions,including blogs, images, videos, tweets, and more.”

While digital technology provides a wealth ofopportunities, there are also online risks andsometimes these risks can lead to harm and abuse.Social workers need to take these risks into accountwhen using social media and when assessing risk andworking with children, families and adults (3.2).

Social media is being used in safeguarding investigationsand social workers need to consider the ethicalimplications of obtaining information through thesechannels. Social media and future technologicaldevelopments should be acknowledged and consideredwhen planning future practice and legislation to protectand empower children.

While young people’s ‘offline’ and ‘online’ worlds areoften merging, the behaviours and safeguards of the‘real’ world are not always applied in a ‘virtual’ worldwhere friends can be added at the click of button andinformation shared in an instant.

EU Kids Online is a multinational research network. Itseeks to enhance knowledge of European children’sonline opportunities, risks and safety. It uses multiplemethods to map children’s and parents’ experience ofthe internet, in dialogue with national and Europeanpolicy stakeholders.2

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The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) is a groupof more than 200 organisations drawn from acrossgovernment, industry, law, academia and charity sectors thatwork in partnership to help keep children safe online.3

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)supports professionals to deliver education and raiseawareness of online child exploitation and abuse.4

Social media and social networking sites (SNS) are nowpart of modern life and as such social workers need tounderstand how they work and manage potential risks totheir personal security, their own families and those whothey work with. Social media is a public domain and socialworkers should be aware that while online they are stillrepresenting the profession and the agency and should beaware of how they could be viewed by society/serviceusers/colleagues/other agencies/the media/governingbodies (2.3.1).

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) has publishedupdated Social media guidance for social service workers.The guidance provides advice for workers on using socialmedia in a way that meets the SSSC Code of Practice, whichsets out the expected behaviours and values of theworkforce. It focuses on issues registrants and otherstakeholders come across most frequently. 5

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Definition

The terms “social media” and “social networking” are often used interchangeably to refer to web-based tools andtechnologies that support online communication and information sharing. Social media is, in effect, a publishing andbroadcasting medium and includes:

l Blogs – writing a blog or commenting onpeople’s blogs

l Micro-blogs such as Twitter

l Social networking sites, such asFacebook, LinkedIn, Ning, and havinga personal profile page on one of thesocial or business networking sites

l Content-sharing services, such as Flickr,YouTube, Vimeo

l Product or service reviews on retailersites, or customer review sites

l Taking part in online votes and polls

l Taking part in conversations on publicand private web forums (message boards)

l Wikis are websites developedcollaboratively by a community of users,allowing any user to add and edit content

l Podcasts

l Social bookmarking, such as Delicious

l Location based services (e.g. Foursquare)

Benefits and disadvantages

1 Social workers should understand the potentialbenefits and disadvantages of social media for theirpractice and for service users.

2 Social workers should use social media as a positiveplatform for exchanging ideas and knowledge andto promote the social work profession, being awarethat they are acting as ambassadors for social workwhen they are online.

Professionally appropriate

3 Social workers should ensure that their onlinepresence is professionally appropriate.

Social workers should apply the same principles,expectations and standards for interacting andcommunicating with people online as in other areasof practice (3.1).

4 Social workers should maintain appropriatepersonal and professional boundaries in theirrelationships with service users and colleagues,recognising that not to do so could be detrimental

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to themselves, their careers, service users, otherindividuals and employers (2.3.3).

5 Social workers and students should ensure thatpersonal communication and work communicationare separate.

6 Social media can be used effectively to breakdownunhelpful communication barriers and encouragedialogue between professionals and people whouse or have used services, their families and othercitizens (e.g. in open Twitter chats on professionalmatters). However, it is not appropriate to “accept”service users and their carers as online ‘friends’ in apersonal network, or in any other way to create anonline personal relationship. It could also be usedas evidence in conduct hearings.

7 For students, the same issues about boundaries andconfidentiality are relevant and the sameprecautions should be taken with regard toplacements. Discretion should be used in relation tousing university networks to ensure there is adistinction between personal and professionalcommunication.

Security and privacy

8 Social workers should be responsible forunderstanding how to use social media, checkingpersonal security settings and the implications ofsocial media being a public and permanent record.Good “e-professionalism” requires the use of privatechannels (for example, email, phone) for anyinteraction or information that can have privacyimplications.

9 Social workers need to be vigilant to keep their ownidentity safe and that of friends and families in allsocial media usage. Social workers need to considerthe implication and risks of putting personalinformation on sites they use in both personal andwork capacities, such as work, contact details andphotos of work colleagues and family members andshould not do so if they think their privacy and safetywill be compromised. Particular attention should bepaid to avoiding unauthorized use of images or otheridentifiers of people who have used services or theirfamilies or carers. This could be a misconduct matterwith an employer or the regulator as well asbreaching the BASW Code of Ethics. Social workersmay want to ask family and friends to bear this in

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mind when posting information, as for exampleinappropriate pictures posted by others could openthem up to criticism or pictures of their family onlinecould create difficulties.

Responsibility, confidentiality and privacy

10 Social workers should share informationappropriately (3.5) and be responsible for what isposted, using their professional judgment (2.3.4).When tweeting or blogging about a topic related tothe profession or work, social workers shouldconsider the effect of their comments on theirreputation and that of their employer. Socialworkers should also think carefully about how theirpostings could affect service users and their owncareers and not bring the profession into disrepute(2.3.1). It may be useful to consider adding adisclaimer that the views expressed are notnecessarily the views of the employer and interactin such a way that what you say and do could standpublic scrutiny.

11 Social workers need to respect the principles ofconfidentiality and the privacy and feelings of others(3.10) by not revealing privileged or confidential

details about work or individuals. IFSW policy, dataprotection legislation and guidance should beapplied to social media. Any development in thesocial media field that social workers are involved inshould be subject to comprehensive security andconfidentiality requirements before it goes live.

12 Social workers have a duty to act in the bestinterests of service users and consider people’s rightto respect, privacy and confidentiality (3.1) whilstalso managing and assessing risk (3.2) within a legalframework.

13 Social workers should take into account whenassessing and managing risk (3.2), and when theyhave a duty of care or are acting in “loco parentis”,whether children and vulnerable people are at riskthrough their use of social media and manage thisresponsibly and appropriately, whilst recognisingthat social networking is part of modern life. Forexample, working with families and carers to protectservice users from posting and viewinginappropriate or pornographic material or havingharmful contacts which may put them at risk orsubject them to bullying or abuse.

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14 Social workers have a responsibility to consider theuse of social media as part of safeguardinginvestigations but need to be mindful of the ethicalimplications. It is important to work with thoseprofessionals who are best placed to undertake thetask of scrutinising social media and to ensure it isin the service user’s best interest.

15 When appropriate social workers and social workorganisations including BASW should engage withother relevant organisations to determine policiesfor data protection and precisely what kinds of datashould be protected in order to prevent abuse andexploitation through the use of social media and todevelop possible safeguards.

Support and advice

16 Social workers, in their practice, should supportservice users of all ages to use social networkingwith awareness of its potential and risks. Socialworkers and their organisations should be offeringclear, prominent and accessible advice aboutinternet safety to ensure people can safely get themost from the services on offer and when using thesocial networking sites.

17 BASW strongly urges employers to support andfacilitate social workers, foster carers and othercarers learning about social media, includingprovision of training, to enable them to provideeffective advice.

18 Social workers should discuss and reflect onparticular dilemmas related to the use of socialmedia in specific situations as part of professionalsupervision. Decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis and take into account the bestinterests of those concerned (3.13; 2.3.4).

19 Social workers should know and understand whattheir employer’s and regulator’s policies allow withregard to using social media, as well as legalprecedents. If the employer does not have a policy,this omission should be raised with the appropriatemanager/supervisor.

20 Social workers should know what support andaction will be taken by employers if they experienceabuse, harassment or hate mail as a result of theirwork (3.15) and all employers should have a policyin place to deal with such circumstances.

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Continuing Professional Development

21 Social workers should make use of the potential forcontinuing professional development (CPD)through social media, for example by accessinglearning materials, through online discussions andinformation sharing. Within the current fast-evolvingsocio-economic and policy contexts, it is importantthat social workers keep abreast of relevantdevelopments in social work and relatedprofessions. Social media can facilitate this processand raise practitioners’ awareness. BASW provides aknowledge hub through which social workers canaccess a variety of learning opportunities andupdates on social media.

22 Social workers need to be aware of the benefits andpitfalls of using social media for learning and ensurethat time allocated to involvement in social mediaand web searches is managed and appropriatewhilst at work (3.14). For example social workersneed to be aware that social media is not peerreviewed so some information may be misleadingor inaccurate.

23 Social workers should be competent in socialmedia to enable them to navigate this fast-changing arena. Learning about social mediashould be an on-going process with sufficient timeand training to become e-professionals and use iteffectively in their everyday practice. Social mediatraining and engagement should be a corecomponent of the social work curriculum andcontinuing professional developmentto enablepeople to become “e-Professionals”.

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References

1 BASW: The Code of Ethics for Social Work,www.basw.co.uk/about-basw/code-ethics

2 EU Kids Online, www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/research/research-projects/eu-kids-online

3 UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS),www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis

4 The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP),www.thinkuknow.co.uk/professionals

5 Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)www.sssc.uk.com/about-the-sssc/multimedia-library/publications/press-releases/updated-social-media-guidance-for-social-service-workers

Useful links

l The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)http://ifsw.org

l Guidance on Social Media, Health and Care ProfessionsCouncil www.basw.co.uk/resources/guidance-social-media

l Social Workers and Information Technology, SCIE www.basw.co.uk/resources/social-workers-and-

information-technologyl Children’s online activities, risks and safety: A literature

review by the UKCCIS Evidence Group www.basw.co.uk/resources/children’s-online-activities-

risks-and-safety-literature-review-ukccis-evidence-group

BASW Policy SOCIAL MEDIA

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