Editorial: networked relationships in the digital age – messages for social work

The digital age has arrived and electronic communication is ubiquitous – it is part of daily life for millions of people who are busy posting on social media, texting, sending emails, uploading videos on YouTube, purchasing or selling goods online, gaming with people across the world or joining online professional networks. How we communicate and relate to others is changing and being shaped by the ways in which the new technologies of communication operate. The attraction of electronic communication is that it overcomes geographical and temporal barriers in a way never before possible and at a speed which is succinctly summed up by the word ‘instant’. The technology of electronic communication is the space of the possible, where new developments appear continuously. For this special issue of the journal, contributors were asked to consider how electronic communication is impacting, positively or negatively, on relationships relevant to the delivery of social work services. This special issue thus focuses on the concept of ‘relationship’ and how it operates at the intersection between electronic communication and social work practice. In particular, this issue aims to encourage social workers to consider how electronic modes of communication, and social networking in particular, are creating new types of relationships and offering new ways through which people experience and mediate their relationships with others. The underlying premise of this special issue is that relationship building and strengthening social connections are important elements of social work practice and consequently social workers need to be aware of the growing influence of digital technologies in the social domain.

Getting to grips with the benefits and also the downsides of new technologies is something of a challenge for social workers mainly because of the wide variety of media through which people can now connect and communicate and the many different forms of activity which the term ‘electronic communication’ encompasses. In this issue, contributors share insights from their research and practice regarding relationships that are mediated wholly or in part through electronic forms of communication and they highlight the messages from their observations for the wider practice of social work.

This special issue attracted submissions from across the world signalling a global interest among researchers and practitioners regarding the implications for social work practice of digital technology and networked relationships. The articles selected for inclusion in this issue have been chosen because they each address different aspects of the networked relationships theme. There are papers such as that by Mark Willoughby, whose article offers an important overview of current knowledge on the risks associated with the use of social media by children and young people and he highlights how social workers need to carry this type of knowledge into their practice with children, young people and families. In particular, he encourages social workers to incorporate social media usage into the assessments they carry out with children and young people. This, of course, requires social workers to know what to ask and how to make sense of the information they collect. Luke Somerville and Eavan Brady echo Mark Willoughby’s stance and their article argues for social workers to become better informed on the technologies which their client groups are actively using. They explore the views of social workers employed in child and adolescent mental health services in Ireland on the extent to which they are versant in the technologies used by the young people with whom they work and their study uncovered significant gaps in knowledge among their participant cohort. Such gaps in knowledge regarding electronic communication media, and social media in particular, dilute social workers’ confidence and competence in discussing online activities and the implications of some of those activities with clients. They conclude that social workers need to avail themselves of opportunities to develop their understanding and knowledge of technologies but they also show through their research that this type of training is not easily accessed by social workers because of lack of provision and the varying priority attached to it.

The benefits for social workers of being versant in new technologies and then incorporating this knowledge into their practice approaches is a theme highlighted repeatedly by contributors in this issue. Chitat Chan and Steven Sek-yum Ngai identify the advantages which can flow from what they term ‘technology-supported social work’. In their article, they report how three non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong have adopted online strategies to reach out and connect with ‘hidden youth’, a generic term for young people who experience marginalisation, isolation or other social challenges. Their research reveals important findings including the ability of electronic technologies to facilitate young people to connect with appropriate services, to successfully deliver relevant and helpful information to this target group and to facilitate this group of young people to engage with services. Thus, some of the young people involved in their research study reported that they found it easier to discuss personal and sensitive issues in an online environment and were able to engage in a deeper level of discussion with service providers through this medium. These findings have important implications for the design of outreach services which aim to engage young people who are exposed to risks such as self-harm and mental distress.

To understand how electronic technologies can support beneficial networked relationships, social workers need to understand the processes underlying relationship-building and interpersonal communication in an online or electronic environment. Jane Sander’s article makes an important contribution to progressing our knowledge on such processes. Through a phenomenological lens, Sanders considers the extent to which central processes in psychotherapy can be mediated in web-cam facilitated sessions and finds that the use of technology in this context is not necessarily problematic and may even be useful in helping some clients continue their engagement with therapy.

Mary Ellen Brown and Patricia Dustman examine the incorporation of digital communication into community development work. They discuss an innovative and creative social work initiative to mobilise community cohesion in which Facebook was used as a tool in a community strengthening intervention. This article displays how new technologies can be tools of empowerment, helping to foster cohesion and connect people who share a common goal. This article also highlights how outcomes measurements in social work practice need to adapt in order to measure the impact of interventions which incorporate electronic communication tools. As can be seen across many of the articles, the elements of networked relationships need to be measured in ways that make sense in online environments. Researchers need a new repertoire of measures, new ways of observing and interpreting the extent to which online interventions are working or not. Thus, Mary Ellen Brown and Patricia Dustman use tailored assessment approaches to measure the extent to which specific interventions using Facebook were effective in elevating residents’ interest in a community initiative to combat crime.

The need to use suitable research methods to interpret interventions using electronic communication media is also a central argument in the article by Joaquín Castillo de Mesa, Luis Gómez Jacinto, Antonio López Peláez and María de las Olas Palma García. They report on a project in Spain in which Facebook, as medium of social connection, was used to foster mutual assistance among a group of job-seeking service users. Their article skilfully displays how new research methods can measure the success or failure of such initiatives to support effective networked relationships. Their research methods helped reveal some unexpected outcomes including the finding that a cohort of older participants in the study embraced this form of social networking. However, of particular importance is the research strategy underpinning the evaluation of this intervention, as well as the methods of measurement which were adopted and the terminology used to describe relevant factors. In ascertaining how the Facebook page facilitated relational connectedness between participants, this study utilises network analysis strategies to measure concepts such as ‘betweeness centrality’, ‘bridge nodes’ and ‘geodesic distance’. For many social workers, this is a new research language but one with which it will be increasingly necessary for social workers to engage as electronic communication tools become more and more embedded in social work practice.

In the meantime, many social workers are still working out what this new digital era means for them and the work they are engaged in on a daily basis. Reporting on findings from research with newly qualified and early-stage career social workers, Julie Byrne and Gloria Kirwan discuss the hopes and fears carried by their research participants regarding the overlap between practice and technology. Many of their participants were able to highlight practical ways in which electronic communication enhanced their ability to communicate and build relationships with service users. At the same time, some participants expressed reservations about the use of digital technology in their practice, with particular concerns being raised regarding client privacy and the need for vigilance in ensuring that this was not breached. The theme of power also appeared within this data. Some participants located power in their role and discussed their ambiguity regarding the rights and wrongs of looking up clients’ social media profiles or discussing their work in private online contexts. Others revealed a sense of powerlessness regarding the ways in which social work is discussed on some social media fora. The fear of being recorded while doing their job was expressed by some participants, which was compounded by the fear that such recordings would be uploaded onto social media or shared in online platforms. Adding to a sense of concern about such possibilities, was a lack of clarity regarding the ethical principles which should guide their practice in relation to digital technology and what to do, for example, if they suspect they are being recorded while trying to do their job.

The power dimensions surrounding social work relationships in the digital era are further considered in detail by Tara La Rose whose article examines the self-advocacy project carried out online by a foster family opposed to decisions being made regarding children in their care. La Rose engages in a sophisticated multi-modal analysis of the contextual layers surrounding this situation and she demonstrates how the online publication of recorded content (a meeting between a social worker and the two foster parents) shapes the meaning(s) of the encounter and the power relations which exist within it. As she concludes, the analysis presented in her article conveys the complexity of contemporary social work practice. Part of that contemporary landscape is the rise of digital technology and its arrival sharpens our awareness that contemporary social work practice requires well-developed skills and relationship-building competences.

This issue also includes two important book reviews. Anne McCormack, a social worker and author of a book on Internet safety for children, carries out a detailed review of Claudia Megele’s holistic guide for practitioners on safeguarding children and young people online. Julie Byrne and Gloria Kirwan review Linda Cundy’s edited book titled, ‘Love in the Age of the Internet’. Cundy, who is an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist, edits and contributes to this interesting collection on the changing landscape of relationships flowing from the rise of the digital era.

Across the articles in this special issue, a set of clear messages emerge. Firstly, there are many potential benefits arising from the new technologies and electronic communication tools now available which could be used innovatively and creatively by social workers. In that light, the Internet is full of positive potential to enhance social networking and connectedness. However, as some of the contributions in this issue also highlight, electronic communication technologies are tools which must be understood and properly evaluated if they are to be used ethically and effectively. Social workers are well placed to use these technologies for the benefit of society, but we need to better understand how to use them and how to measure outcomes. This collection of articles moves forward our knowledge on all of these fronts and I am very grateful to the authors who have been so generous to share their work and insights within this issue.