Dissemination Social Media as a key tool for social workers

In November 2019, a group of about 20 participants gathered in the city of Marsaxlokk, Malta in order to learn about the ideal usage of social media for youth workers. The host of the program, Cross Culture International Foundation Malta, had invited the organisations Sfera Macedonia from North Macedonia, Social Policy and Action from Cyprus, Omladinski klub Backa Palanka from Serbia, and EKO from Greece. Each organisation sent 5 participants each, who then made up the team of engaged participants.

This project was based on youth workers in order to train them to understand more about ”the media entity”, how to benefit from it, use it as a tool to develop relevant digital skills and create activities to help young people build healthier relationships with technology. The programme consisted of a mix of interactive methods and presentations. For seven days, discussions on the dangers and opportunities social media presents were held, as well as presentations on social networks and the set-up of a website. Furthermore, we were guided to plan our social media strategies and fostered engagement rates. On top of increasing our digital competences, we also learned about photography.

It was a very insightful training that enabled a better understanding of how factors such as time, theme or target groups can affect posts or how data of such could be analysed usefully. With an increased use of social media, it is important to carefully understand its key advantages but also be mindful of potential threats. This training played a vital part in building such a competence and we encourage everybody to access our Social Media Training Manual that comprises many topics that were presented. In order to do so, simply follow this link and then download the guide:

Social Media as a tool key for social workers