Updated: Using social media – guidance for social service workers and employers

Monday, 01 August 2011 08:29

Many of us now use social networking and file sharing sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.   They're great for staying in touch and creating communities and for most people, joining in is trouble free and fun. But it can be easy to blur the lines between your personal voice and your professional life as a registered social service worker.

The SSSC guidance includes information on:

• what is social media?
• to friend or not to friend?
• if you should comment
• is private really that private?

Read the SSSC guidance on our website.

Update 24 August 2011:

A few people have asked us for more information about friending on social network sites like Facebook. Social service workers need to consider those relationships with people who use services in the context of the maintenance of professional boundaries.  As a social service worker you must consider the potential impact of any relationship, online or otherwise, on your ability to maintain those boundaries.  You may not know if someone is using social services however if you become aware that they are, it is important that you discuss particular circumstances that apply with your line manager to ensure that the consequences of a relationship are considered in terms of your ability to deliver safe care and to comply with the SSSC Code of Practice for Social Service Workers.

Social networking is a fast moving and constantly evolving environment and it would be good to hear views on the challenges and opportunities, if any, you think this presents for social service workers.

Andrew Hall , August 08, 2011

This "Tip" about friends on Facebook is too general in it's terms . If its a client known to the registered person in a professional capacity then it is quite clear. That person should not be accepted as a "friend"
However "Tip" No 2 appears to suggest any person who uses Social Work Services cannot become a "friend " of a registered person on Facebook. I have elderly relatives who use SW services in the Community. Your "Tip" suggests I should not communicate with them on a social media site. This, surely , is not what is being suggested.
The second point to take into consideration is this, how would you know the "friend " is a user of services?

Carol Laird , August 10, 2011

Despite not contributing to any online social network or having created any social media profile for myself, I read this article with interest as I am always keen to take guidance from the SSSC. Whilst I felt some of these points were useful, I was dismayed by the comment that "allowing a person who uses services or their carer to be your online friend or follower is not acceptable for a registered social service worker as it creates a personal relationship outside of your workplace." I entirely agree that befriending your own service users or their carers, online or otherwise, is wholly inappropriate. However, the comment made is not specific to service users I work with. To suggest that, as a registered worker, I can have no personal relationship with any service user or their carer is to overlook the point that any member of my family or social network may be service users or carers - indeed I might also be a service user or carer myself. If I were to establish a profile page on a social network site, am I to assume I would be unable, under this guidance, to befriend my 24 year old stepson who uses social work services on a daily basis as he has multiple physical disabilities and needs care to manage all his tasks of daily living? Or my colleague who is a carer for her nephew who has autism? Everyone is a potential service user or carer. Other SSSC literature I have read has taken an encompassing approach which recognises this, but this article does not appear to do so. I would appreciate any feedback.

Scottish Social Services Council , August 24, 2011

Carol and Andrew, thank you for your comments.

A few people have asked us for more information about friending on social network sites like Facebook. Social service workers need to consider those relationships with people who use services in the context of the maintenance of professional boundaries. As a social service worker you must consider the potential impact of any relationship, online or otherwise, on your ability to maintain those boundaries. You may not know if someone is using social services however if you become aware that they are, it is important that you discuss particular circumstances that apply with your line manager to ensure that the consequences of a relationship are considered in terms of your ability to deliver safe care and to comply with the SSSC Code of Practice for Social Service Workers.

Social networking is a fast moving and constantly evolving environment and it would be good to hear views on the challenges and opportunities, if any, you think this presents for social service workers.