Twitter in Social Work Practice

The S ocial Media Tool 

Twitter is among the social media service that has been mostly used by activists’ groups across the globe. Twitter is a kind of microblogging service that facilitates the distribution of limited short messages to the public under a personalized news feed. The Twitter website and various mobile and desktop applications can be used to update user’s feeds. The member’s web page provides access to the news feed updates, although users can also receive updates through the syndication process, which is commonly known as “following.” In the case where our Twitter feed is “followed” by a certain user, they will receive personal updates through the Twitter web, desktop applications, or whatever services they are using. In this era of localized services and smartphones, the aspect of personalized news distribution can be compelling and effective. Besides, Twitter provides a community aspect to its users. If there is a tweet update, a list of the post’s followers and the followed is displayed under the Twitter feed or the update. This is an advantage to Twitter users because finding people with the same interest is easy. The natural creation of these lists is based on shared interest among individuals. Therefore, Twitter is a digital social platform that can be used as a technological through social work practice. 

Application of Twitter 

When Twitter was launched back in 2006, its original messaging purpose was to give replies to some easy questions like “What are you doing?” It was a communication shortcut that aimed at updating friends on different events of life. The tool’s direction has changed since its launch, although its initial purpose still exists as an essential aspect of the tool. The characteristic of its service enables users to pursue different purposes; that is why it can be suitable to pursue local initiative in creating awareness on social injustice. In distributing information and reaching a wider population, Twitter feeds used, which are messages sent by the Twitter users, Hashtags (#) which are searchable, following which involves subscribing to other Twitter users’ feeds, and Twitterverse services which are the realm of Tweets. 

Discrimination as a Social Injustice 

Discrimination tends to be more of a social issue than a political issue. Discrimination has found its route in employment, education, housing, healthcare services and more so in government benefits and services. It is the unequal treatment of persons for reasons that are not related to their ability or legal rights. Under the United States law of discrimination, employment, civil rights, rates of pay, and availability of housing, together with the use of facility-based on sexual orientation, race, creed, age, sex, nationality, or color, are prohibited. Discrimination should be eliminated in society because it is a form of suffering that can lead to severe psychological, emotional, or physical damage. Promoting diversity in society is among the best approaches that can be used in reducing levels of discrimination (Thompson, 2016). To achieve this, there is a need to use social media to create awareness in the society. 

The Social Media Presence, Plan, and the Population 

Most Twitter users are people aged between 18 and 29 years, which is approximately 40% of total users in the United States (Huang et al., 2016). As age increases, the usage reduces. This group is mostly working and active in society contributions making it more vulnerable to social discriminations based on ethnicity, gender, among other social injustices. According to Kassam (2019), about eight in ten Americans noted that Muslims are more discriminated compared to Hispanics, and gays and lesbians. 80% of the total respondents said that Black Americans face some discrimination in society. To create a different initiative, there is need to cover a wide range of discriminative activities within society. For example, the #MeToo initiative concentrated on sexual discrimination only, locking out the voices of other discriminative activities. 

Advantages 

Compared to other social media platforms, Twitter is advantageous because it provides an alternative to push the Tweets to other systems. The Tweets can automatically be posted to blogs or Facebook status. To create access to social media, the first strategy involves finding other activists with similar motives, following them, and borrowing tips on how to keep it going. Also, covering real-life activism activity through hashtags will make it easy for those interested in the same causes to easily find and follow the initiative. To maintain a presence in Twitter and overcome empty page dismay, the tweets should add value to the followers. Tweeting the links of related articles, sharing the names and hashtags of tweets, and Twitter followers that have ‘popular’ content about the same initiative will keep it going. 

Theories 

Symbolic interactionism is among the theories that try to explore stratification and, thus, poverty by understanding people’s interactions in daily life. Society shapes and influences the “self” through social processes (Stryker, 2017). Discrimination is linked in with poverty. For instance, if people’s salaries are based on ethnicity, then minorities are likely to be poor. Viewing it in the individualistic perspective, the assumption is that having certain values and beliefs, and lacking the motivation to work leads to poverty (Haslanger, 2016). Activism through social media can reduce discrimination within a certain group, therefore, increasing motivation. From the structural perspective, problems with society lead to poverty due to a lack of opportunities. Also, groups and individuals can gain power, have control over their lives, and access resources through a collective action, which is in line with the contingency theory. The Twitter movement against discrimination creates a group that has a similar motive aiming at building a suitable society. 

P rofessionalism 

Among the significant challenges associated with the use of social media is the ethical consideration, and also challenges and risks posed by the use of social media. The uncertainty around safeguard can be done by taking some actions like asking whenever you are unsure, avoiding disclosing identifying factors, and positive risk-taking. According to Cooner et al. (2017), common sense should be applied when social media is being used. However, being afraid of taking opportunities denies the users to take positive risks. For a social service worker, social media, Twitter, in particular, has the chance to be a revolutionary tool. According to research, despite informed, concerned, creative, and innovative staff using social media successfully with support and knowledge concerning hazards and doubts within the practice, it can help the social service worker to be creative and innovative (Cooner et al., 2017). This leads to exceptional ways that benefit both society and other practitioners. 

Promoting Community Well-being 

Culture is an evolutionary process that is transmitted from different directions, for instance, between peers, or from parents to offspring. The psychology of using Twitter and the rest of social media is a field that is growing, particularly in online activities. This gives the reason as to why it has been popularly used in every activity, from business to advocating change. There is also the issue of “social influence,” and without any bias, people are coping with the choices of others. Therefore, the distribution of information through the media is more effective, considering that the users are increasing, and it is reaching a wide population. 

Collaborative Involvement 

Free interactions between individual users and social actors create clusters or subgroups. Members of a Twitter cluster tend to have a common goal, for example, political ideologies. Information flows between these clusters creating interconnectedness. A high-density cluster is effective in sharing information because the information will flow quickly. The level of reciprocity in relationships affects information distribution (Ryu & Lee, 2017). If the level of reciprocity is high, it means that individuals in that cluster can depend on each other when it comes to distributing information. 

Ethical Problem Solving Model 

There are six steps involved in solving an ethical problem. First, there is the process of determining if an ethical dilemma exists. It involves analyzing if the rights, values, or professional responsibilities of the Twitter user have been violated. Second, the principles and key-value involved are determined. Competing values have meanings and limitations which must be analyzed to maintain equality on both the plaintiff and the defendant involved in the discriminative case. The ethical principles and values are then ranked according to their level of significance. In the fourth step, an action plan is created with respect to their levels of significance. Members of the group should be involved in analyzing the consequences associated with the action taken to solve the dilemma. The plan is then implemented while utilizing practice skills like skillful negotiations, sensitive communication, and also cultural competence to solve the discriminative issues raised. Finally, a reflection is made on the results obtained from the ethical process, analyzing the consequences. 

Core Values and Ethical Standards 

Critical thinking has an ethical landscape like any other complex human activity. Complex issues arise when dealing with people undergoing different kinds of pain as a result of discrimination. While advocating for nondiscrimination, there is a need for sustainable arguments which will keep the discussion going through maintaining certain critical thinking standards to solve the issues raised by Twitter followers. The sustainable or critical thinking will keep the community members supported, and therefore, keep the dignity respected. Intuitions are avoided in a decision-making process, and sounder decisions are achieved under analytical and considered basis when solving issues. 

The principle of substance can apply to achieve sustainable arguments during discussions, questioning, and commitments (Kirst-Ashman, 2015). It involves selecting a point of view that deserves the best of thinking, offer certain benefits or facilitate necessary decisions. Being able to feel the pain of others reduces instances of discrimination or sharing it supports individuals in the reflection of what matters. Also, the principle of charitable interpretation requires that individuals choose the best words during an argument raised. Critical thinking leads to arguments and fallacies, reconciling the conflict raised on the Twitter handle, and reasoning about numbers. With Twitter, there is a chance of a community that is less discriminative and a community with like-minded souls. 

Conclusion 

Twitter can strengthen communication strategies for groups and individuals for the fight against discrimination. Although Twitter does not represent the coordination of collective actions, its services represent an information distribution tool. The explicit hedonism created by many messages can put off new users. Twitter is not an advertising soapbox, it is more than that, and as described above, it can be used to advocate for a social change. The starting phase begins with playing, exploring, and reading about Twitter, evaluating efforts, and possible challenges that can present themselves in the future. No one knows if Twitter, as a corporation, will be there in the days to come and if activists will be allowed to conduct their business as it is currently. However, what we are certain of is that Twitter is a microblogging tool that contributes a lot in online communication. 

References 

Cooner, T. S., Beddoe, L., Ferguson, H., & Joy, E. (2019). The use of Facebook in social work practice with children and families: exploring complexity in an emerging practice.  Journal of Technology in Human Services , 1-22. 

Haslanger, S. (2016). What is a (social) structural explanation?  Philosophical Studies ,  173 (1), 113-130. 

Huang, Y., Guo, D., Kasakoff, A., & Grieve, J. (2016). Understanding US regional linguistic variation with Twitter data analysis.  Computers, Environment and Urban Systems ,  59 , 244-255. 

Kassam, N. (2019). Lowy Institute Poll 2019. 

Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2015).  Empowerment Series: Introduction to Social Work & Social Welfare: Critical Thinking Perspectives . Nelson Education. 

Ryu, K., & Lee, J. S. (2017). Examination of restaurant quality, relationship benefits, and customer reciprocity from the perspective of relationship marketing investments.  Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research ,  41 (1), 66-92. 

Stryker, S. (2017). Symbolic interactionism: Themes and variations.  Social psychology  (pp. 3-29). Routledge. 

Thompson, N. (2016).  Anti-discriminatory practice: Equality, diversity, and social justice . Macmillan International Higher Education.