As I told on the “Digi Society” page, I work in the child welfare services. In my daily work I use many different digital tools. Nappula is the application we use to document children´s everyday life. All the administrative tasks we do trough Nappula. As much as we use Nappula, do we work with Microsoft-tools. We use Outlook, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Word, OneDrive, Lens and Teams. Ortec and Workday are apps we use for rota planning and checking employee data.
In work many of my co-workers have had problems with using all the tools. For example Microsoft Lens was an application they had never heard about. They did always walk to the other end of the house, just jo scan a paper. After the scanning they went on the computer, took the file from their e-mail and from there moved it to OneDrive. They where astonished, as I told them, that by using Lens, you can scan the paper directly into OneDrive. The process is much shorter now as people use Lens instead of a regular scanner.
Personally I use Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, BeReal, LinkedIn and Facebook, sometimes YouTube. My primary reason is to keep in touch with friends and family. It is so easy to send a picture or video on Snapchat, an feel like you really are present in other peoples life’s. I use LinkedIn to follow the newest new from my field, and to keep in touch with people.
Snapchat and WhatsApp
It may sound a bit weird, but in my work we use Snapchat. Our youths use Snapchat, so it’s one of the best ways to connect with them. When we want to discuss more, we use WhatsApp. WhatsApp is also the tool to be in contact with the children’s parents and children’s teachers. The negative site with Snapchat and WhatsApp is that you really have to be careful what you put in there. I see that they are not as reliable as a regular SMS.
YouTube
Youtube is something that our youth use to watch videos. YouTube is also something that can be used in teaching. Youtube has a lot of good videos to be shown as learning material. On the other hand, YouTube has so many improper videos that may appear just by clicking from one video to another.
On our companies Instagram we put pictures of our everyday life, keeping privacy in our minds. The thought with it is to show people, that there is so called normal life inside the walls of a children’s home. It could also be used as a channel to market workplaces for example. The risk/negative site with it is again the security. It’s very important to look at the safety aspect, when posting something online.
TikTok
TikTok is a place where some social workers have posted informative videos. I could see that as a good chance to show the good side of child welfare services, as people often see them as a scary thing. In TikTok I see a huge data security threat.
To successfully use social media, there needs to be the know-how to use the right social media in the right place. Also it is very important to really know how to use the tools/applications. To most important thing is to be aware of data security and information security.
Self evaluation
In total we use social medias very little. WhatsApp is with us in everyday life, and Snapchat some days. My work is very strict in many ways, so using social media at work is not a good idea. As a private person I’m on social media, but still look at everything from the safety aspect.
It was very interesting to think about the different social medias, keeping my work in mind. Many of the tools in the task where something I’v never heard about.