I work as a service manager in work and day activities for people with disabilities. I have several teams under my command, which are located in different parts of the welfare area and the distances are quite long. Email is absolutely essential in my work. Through it, I can handle a lot of things related to close management, when there are many teams and communication should be up-to-date. I share various materials via email, e.g. welfare area announcements and training invitations, respond to mail from employees and keep in touch with my colleagues. Teams is also used in my own work almost daily. I keep in touch with my teams, colleagues and supervisor through Teams. Almost all meetings and training take place through Teams. Especially when the distances are long, Teams enables weekly team meetings and meetings via video. WhatsApp is also used to enable group messages between teams. Microsoft Office6tools are used daily. 

Elements of successful use of digital applications? 

Social media is widely used by people of all ages, so it can be used to reach a very wide audience. When more applications are used, the number of recipients only increases. Social media is a fast communication tool. I believe that social media can be used to reach customer groups that would otherwise be excluded from traditional communication. Using social media applications requires employees to learn something new, which requires time, knowledge and training. Employees also guide customers to social media and guide them in their use. I think that a positive attitude and strong expertise are important. 

I see that social media can be used to highlight the everyday work of the social sector and make it visible to a wider audience. Usually, only the most sensational headlines and news make it to the news, but it would be important to make everyday basic work visible. Social media could be a possible avenue. However, it is important that when disseminating information related to one’s profession and work on social media, one acts in accordance with laws and employer guidelines, taking into account social ethics. 

Social media can also be used to spread incorrect information. When using social media, critical media literacy is key. Information shared on social media must be viewed critically, and one must also be careful when sharing information. In my opinion, social media cannot replace face-to-face or telephone work, but is an alternative in the service menu. Employees must also think carefully about what kind of communication on social media makes sense and how it leads towards the set goals. 

What Social Media tools I could use for my work: 

Evernote: You can store articles, research, and training materials in Evernote. My team and I could use Evernote to store work-related research and training materials there, making them easy to find. I haven’t quite figured out whether Evernote can be used in this way or if it is personal. 

Deepl: I rarely have to translate texts into another language at work. I have usually used Google Translate. Deepl has received a lot of positive feedback from users and its translations have been praised as being much more natural than Google Translate. I could use this in my work. 

Doodle: The app seems handy for organizing larger meetings. Currently, they are handled through email threads, which can be really long when you can’t find a suitable time. Doodle said that it can be connected to popular calendar apps. An absolute prerequisite for using the app is that it can be connected to the calendar I use at work. 

LinkedIn: I currently use LinkedIn mainly outside of work hours to keep in touch with my former colleagues and see what they are up to in their professional lives. As a professional, I could also use LinkedIn in my work. LinkedIn is a good platform for connecting with other professionals. I think it could be a great tool for professional interaction. LinkedIn also has interesting articles and publications that I could use in my work. 

Instagram: I have only used Instagram outside of work hours to follow personal interests. However, Instagram is a good platform for work too. There you can share photos and videos related to your profession and work and describe everyday work. Instagram is also a good tool if you want to highlight work-related information, highlight social phenomena and draw attention to social ills./ 

Elements of successful use of digital applications? 

Social media is widely used by people of all ages, so it can be used to reach a very wide audience. When more applications are used, the number of recipients only increases. Social media is a fast communication tool. I believe that social media can be used to reach customer groups that would otherwise be excluded from traditional communication. Using social media applications requires employees to learn something new, which requires time, knowledge and training. Employees also guide customers to social media and guide them in their use. I think that a positive attitude and strong expertise are important. 

I see that social media can be used to highlight the everyday work of the social sector and make it visible to a wider audience. Usually, only the most sensational headlines and news make it to the news, but it would be important to make everyday basic work visible. Social media could be a possible avenue. However, it is important that when disseminating information related to one’s profession and work on social media, one acts in accordance with laws and employer guidelines, taking into account social ethics. 

Social media can also be used to spread incorrect information. When using social media, critical media literacy is key. Information shared on social media must be viewed critically, and one must also be careful when sharing information. In my opinion, social media cannot replace face-to-face or telephone work, but is an alternative in the service menu. Employees must also think carefully about what kind of communication on social media makes sense and how it leads towards the set goals. 

Self-assessment 

Through the assignment, I discovered completely new applications that I had never heard of before. However, I found several that I could utilize in my work, both in customer service, in teams, and in work with colleagues. When I was getting to know the applications, I also thought about what implementing the applications in my own work would require and, on the other hand, what benefits it would bring. The application should be easy to use and not take an impossible amount of time to implement. I also think that it should bring some improvement or relief to the work, not so that its use is burdensome. 

When reading other people’s blogs, I noticed that many other fields already use social media and digital applications a lot, the social sector is still in its infancy in this regard. I believe that with positive and successful experiments, the use of social media and digital applications in the social sector will also increase in the coming years.