how social media and online activities influence social workers’ services delivery
The article focused on how social media and online activities influence social workers’ services delivery. Social media and related technologies have significantly transformed communication between these workers and the people they serve (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 173). This article seeks to add more information on social work, the use of social media, and ethics literature by identifying the issues influencing the relationship between social media, social workers’ values, and the realities of work practice (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 174). Since many practitioners in the social work field are adequately using social network sites to engage clients, there is a wide range of ethical issues emerging due to online practices. They involve confidentiality, boundary setting, and dual relationships, causing challenges in dealing with these issues. Therefore, this article sought to highlight the risks and opportunities related to social media use by social workers when dealing with service users in their professional practices.
The article used a case example to examine the professional issues social media use in social work practice to draw recommendations (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 174). The authors used the example of Mary, William, and Adams. Besides, it connects a social worker who provides social support to Mary via Social media, limiting physical attention, which finally led to disconnection and limited follow up. The concept of social networking is discussed through the case example to illustrate how social media can affect social service. This article’s case study methodology provided critical insight into the ethical complexities raised by social media concerning child protection workers. The method examined how social media can lead to social care disparities and concern by social workers specialized in child care. As a result, increased reliance on social media to provide services to the concerned led to increased child abuse to Mary’s son, William, by Adam. When the social worker failed to close follow-up after Mary’s social network use declined, tremendous problems arose, leading to child abuse channeled to William (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 175). Mary could not take any action on the issue because Adam had taken control of her social media use, limiting her from communicating with her friends and the social worker to seek assistance.
Most parts of the study used secondary data. This methodology involves analyzing existing literature related to the topic of study (Streefkerk, 2018). It utilized a case study involving three people: Mary, William, and Adam, and another social network friend, and a social service provider who used the social network to connect with Mary, a single mother to William (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 175). The case study represented a primary source whereby the authors involved some individuals in the data collection. However, it is secondary data since it is from a third party. Case studies involve an in-depth analysis of real-life situations experienced by individuals. This study focuses on the real-life experience of Mary in the child-abuse of her son William.
The authors analyzed data for the study using critical analysis. The authors used critical reflection by conducting numerous discussions (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 174). They drew insights from their knowledge and practice after interrogating the case study through understanding the concepts relating to social service and social relationships among individuals. They drew their conclusions based on their experience and interaction with other people. Besides, the authors reviewed several literature sources based on social media and ethics topics to identify relative concepts involving the effects of social networks in social workers’ operations. They used existing literature to determine what other researchers have placed on the same topic. Critical analysis of different sources provides an insight into the issue by gathering data from numerous sources to offer informed conclusions.
The methodology used for analysis allowed us to view the real-life experience of social media use for service provision. The method is appropriate because it involved the interrogation of affected individuals. It provides real data of how social workers, particularly service provision on child abuse protection, failed to deliver quality services because she relied on social media to connect with Mary, a service seeker on her son, William. The concepts typically are presented well since the case describes how reliance on social media can lead to critical problems for both social workers and their clients. As identified, the social workers could not identify whether Mary had been disempowered and could not use the internet as before (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 175). The issue could find a solution if the social worker could embrace a personal visit.
The data is appropriate for investigating the matter since it reveals how relying on social media to provide social services prevented the social worker from helping Mary and observing William. Data allows exploring the relationship between social media, social worker services, and ethics in social professionalism. It helps identify how reliance on social media by social care providers can lead to unethical practices, causing psychological issues to clients. It reveals how Mary went through humiliation. Her son William experienced sexual abuse from Adam because her social care provider relied on social media to access her other than personal visits (Boddy & Dominelli 2017, 175).
Article 2
The Impact of Social Media on Consumers’ Acculturation and Purchase Intentions
Social media has endorsed numerous effects on communication among peers, consumers, and companies. Previous studies have recognized how cultural change affects communication between these identities; they have not clearly understood how social media contributes to acculturation and consumption behaviors (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 503). Therefore this study stands to identify how social media, a cultural change agent, enhances acculturation and consumption. Acculturation means culture change occurring due to interaction with people of a different culture or operating in different cultural environments. The topic covering immigrants of ethnic minority’s consumption patterns need further investigation to add to existing literature. There arises whether these ethnic-minorities prefer social media as their means of communication using their native language.
The study, therefore, intervened to identify the impact of social media preference by these ethnic-minorities on the choice of acculturation and consumption (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 504). Besides, the authors aimed to explore whether these groups relate with each other on social media when they have similar cultural origins. The study sought to contribute to consumer acculturation research by describing social media’s contribution to cultural change.
The study operationalized the concepts using a framework developed by Kaplan and Haenlen (2010) and Cultural Life Style Inventory (CLSI) by Mendoza (1989) (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 506). The tools measure the preferences of language when communicating through social media. CLSI categorizes individuals by measuring acculturation’s type and extent, depending on how they maintain their heritage culture and acquire the host culture. The measurement tools were applied to the social media context to segment the respondents into integration, assimilation, or separation categories. The article used primary data through self-administered questionnaires to obtain data from a large sample. The authors collected data through a company that specializes in survey sampling known as Markteffect. The study incorporated individuals from the Netherlands, focusing on a sample size of 514 people believed to have a Turkish background (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 506). It focused on gender inclusion by incorporating 54.1% males of the total sample size, and 45.9% were female. In the same case, the article observed balance by spreading across aspects like age, occupation, level of education, and geographical location across the Netherlands.
The authors conducted data analysis using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 506). Coding was done by first dividing the responses of the participants on social media tools. The answers are based on Turkish, Dutch, or Multicultural acculturation orientation patterns. Based on the factor loading of which > 0.5 marked a high loading, the CFA meant convergent validity (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 507). The article also assessed the convergence validity using Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR). Additionally, the study used the Chi-square test to conduct data analysis. The model applies to identify the level of fitness. The sample size affects this method. In the same case, the authors assessed the association among latent variables using structural equation analysis through AMOS. It helped to confirm the appropriateness of the data representation through assessing the goodness-of-fit.
The operationalization is appropriate for assessing language preference since the models produced significant results reflecting a high significance level. The assimilation category revealed the tools’ appropriateness, having 52%, indicating a higher contribution of language preferences in social media on acculturation outcomes (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 507). It contributed much to identifying the role of social networks on acculturation and consumption rate. It determined how the separation of preferences in social media affects enculturation positively. It helps to draw conclusions that immigrants tend to maintain their heritage cultures offline by having the room to make their preferences. The operationalization is a significant one since it helps assess the effects of social media in communication and consumption by determining how language preferences affect the learning of new cultures, affecting consumption (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 507). It is essential in identifying the role of language preference in communication through social media.
The data obtained from the sample involving Dutch respondents proved significant in identifying how basing in a different geographical location with people of varying cultures can use social media to enhance communication (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 507). Besides, it has revealed that social networks are an effective tool for improving communication between people of different backgrounds and cultures by enhancing acculturations. As a result, learning new cultures and connecting through social media increases consumption among individuals with different cultural backgrounds. The data has helped reveal how social media enhances social interaction between people of different ethnicities by creating a common platform that connects them (Kizgin, Jamal, Dey, & Rana 2017, 507). It enabled to identify the role of social networks in determining consumers’ choices to purchase certain products or services.