SSOOCCIIAALLNNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGGCCOONNFFEERREENNCCEERREEPPOORRTT

FOREWORD

Social networking has made a considerable impactto the way we conduct our lives in a very shortspace of time. For millions of people around theworld, it has fundamentally changed the way theyuse the internet. No longer just passive consumersof content, they have become active participants –publishing, sharing, connecting and collaborating.Young people have been at the forefront of thischange, taking the opportunities social networkingsites give them to create their own space on theinternet and to connect with friends through a new,exciting and feature-rich medium.

The growth of social networking sites has beenphenomenal. They have become a part ofeveryday life for a lot of young people who usethem. Everything from chatting with friends,organising social lives, to sharing music ordebating the major issues of the day now takesplace online.

It is of little surprise that this has happened as, inessence, social networking is a very simple concept – it’s about connecting people together.The need to socialise, communicate and buildfriendships is a fundamental aspect of humannature. People of all ages have always sought todo this and social networking is just the latest way ofdoing so – in a way that better fits our increasinglyconnected and technology driven lifestyles.

This can be seen well beyond just the youngersection of society. People of all ages and walks oflife are increasingly using social networking,whether it’s to find old friends, find a job, or sharea hobby and it is now making an impact in

the business world. Companies increasinglyrecognise the need to give employees new waysto share knowledge, work collaboratively andlearn from their colleagues. Social networking isfast becoming part of the mainstream of both ourbusiness and social lives.

With young people at the forefront of this revolution,social networking is a key way of engaging indialogue with them. However like any medium ofcommunication, there are norms and expectationsthat need to be met. Trust is a pre-requisite ofmeaningful dialogue, and that requires a highdegree of honesty and transparency. And in thecrowded social networking space an element ofcreativity and innovation may help to get attention.

Young people are also in a strong position to bringtheir social networking skills into the workplace. Ifthey can offer employers the skills and attitudesthey are looking for, they will be well placed to thrivein the modern workplace. As an innovativecompany Fujitsu is actively seeking to developsocial networking skills in the workplace and viewssuch skills as a valuable asset to any private orpublic sector organisation. Fujitsu is therefore proudto sponsor this conference on social networking.

Graeme MackaySocial Networking Expert, Fujitsu

2

3

BACKGROUND

In August 2009 YouthLink Scotland and YoungScot held a conference to explore how the youthwork sector could engage with young peoplethrough the use of digital technologies with aparticular focus on social networking sites. Theevent provided information and advice topractitioners who wanted to develop this area ofwork and it showcased current examples of goodpractice. Delegates came from a wide section ofthe youth work field ranging from the voluntarysector, local authorities and public sector bodiesthat have an interest in engaging with youngpeople.

The conference had four outcomes:

1. Youth work providers will feel supported tonetwork, train, share expertise and worktogether to fill gaps in provision for young

2. Youth work organisations will understand theopportunities available through socialnetworking to develop their practice

3. Increased number of youth work providersdeveloping youth work opportunities throughthe medium of social networking

4. Increased engagement with young peopleusing digital technologies

To realise these outcomes delegates were able totake part in workshops provided by a variety oforganisations. These were:

• Child Exploitation and Online ProtectionCentre

• Duke of Edinburgh Award• Fujitsu• North Lanarkshire Council • Perfect Storm• Young Scot

Through the knowledge gained during theworkshops and previous knowledge the delegateshad, they were asked to provide their feedback ona draft of this guidance produced by YouthLinkScotland and Young Scot. Additionally feedbackwas sought from Tim Davies, a consultant inyoung people’s participation, social media andsocial change, who provided his expertise.

Social Networking is still an emerging area withchange happening at a rapid pace, however it ishoped that by working with the delegates and aleading consultant in this field the followingguidance will benefit practitioners.

4

INTRODUCTION

There has been a dramatic rise in the usage of socialnetworking sites in the UK over the last few years.These sites now form a significant part of everydaylife, particularly among young people, with manypeople organising their social life through themedium. However, there is an uncertainty about theuse of these sites to engage with young people andthis paper aims to provide guidance.

What are Social Networking Sites?

Social networking sites are websites that facilitateonline communities where people from all over theworld can meet and share common interests bysetting up a “profile page”.

These sites are particularly popular amongstyoung people. A recent Ofcom report revealed halfof all users accessed their social networking site atleast every other day.1 Further, a MSN/MTV surveyfound only 18% of young people are yet to trysocial networking.2 Its popularity can be furtherobserved as an Experian-Hitwise study foundsocial networking is replacing email services forthe internet messaging market.3

Social networking sites can be divided into twocategories:

1. Profile based as Bebo, Facebook andMySpace,

2. Content based – such as YouTube and Flickr.

This guide will focus on the profile-based socialnetworking sites.

The motivation for using social networking sitesvary. In general, Childnet identified that youngpeople use these sites to:4

• Keep in touch with friends and sharing interests• Experimenting with their identity and opinions• Having a space where their parents or carersare not present

• Demonstrating technical expertise

5

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Bebo

URL: www.bebo.comMinimum Age: 13

Bebo is currently a dominant force in thesocial networking market with a 28% share.5

Neilson Online established that 33% of Bebousers are under 18.6 The site is aimed atunder 30s with a core membership of 16 –24 year olds who spend 1.14 billion minuteson the site per month.7 The site containssafety videos designed to educate youngpeople, parents and teachers on how to useBebo in a safe and positive way.

Profiles can be either personal (anindividual), group (a club or organisation) ora band (music). Profiles can be set to either‘Private’ or ‘Public’. Private profiles can onlybe viewed by people who have beenaccepted as friends whereas public profilescan be viewed by anybody.

Bebo users can post brief comments ontoprofiles and these messages appear to allviewers. However users can moderatecomments made on their own profile.Following an email alert the owners canaccept or decline the comment before itappears live on the page.

Group profiles are controlled by individualsthrough their personal profiles. This status iscalled a moderator and means that apersonal profile has to be created before agroup profile can exist.

Facebook

URL: www.facebook.comMinimum Age: 13

This site is popular with those in their early20s and older as the style is restricted to asimple text and profile photo. Despitelacking the customisation of Bebo andMySpace the site is more popular with olderusers and Hitwise identified that only 6% ofFacebook users are under 18.8

Facebook’s News Feed allows the user tosee all the activity within their network. It’svery similar to an RSS feed, in that when aperson logs into Facebook they immediatelyreceive an update of all of the actions theirnetwork has taken.

Facebook contains a help section thatoutlines how to add different features to theprofile page.

There are two types of profiles in Facebookpersonal and group. Personal profiles havevery effective privacy settings that give theuser complete control over who views theirprofile. This can be changed for eachsection of the profile. For example,everybody could be allowed to view theuser’s photographs but only selected friendscould view personal information. Similarly toBebo, a group profile is controlled by apersonal profile.

This section will look at the most popular socialnetworking sites in the UK. These sites havebroadly similar features including the following:

• Blogs• Comments• Instant Messaging• Photos• Videos

6

MySpace

URL: www.myspace.comMinimum Age: 14

With its embedded music player, MySpaceis popular amongst music lovers. NielsonOnline analysis found 16% of users wereunder 18 and MySpace automatically setprofiles to private if they are aged 14 or 15years old.9

The site contains many of the featurescommon to social networking sites includingcomment moderating, having the ability toset a profile to private and appear offline.

Unique to MySpace is the bulletin boardwhich users can use to message everyonein their list of friends or selected members.This makes the site particularly useful fororganising events and promoting activities,such as concerts.

NingURL: www.ning.comMinimum Age: None

Ning is allows users to create their ownsocial network. With more than 1.8 millionNing Networks created and 39 millionregistered users, millions of people everyday are coming together through Ning toshare common interests.10

There are there are a wide choice of featuresthat can be added to Ning sites, includingRSS support, messaging, videos, photos,chat, music, groups, events, and blogs. As aresult of this broad set of choices, eachsocial network on Ning is unique in itspurpose, design, branding and features.

Twitter

URL: www.twitter.comMinimum Age: None

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users tosend and read messages of up to140 characters. Know as Tweets, thesemessages are displayed on the author’sprofile page and delivered to the author’ssubscribers, known as followers.

Senders can restrict delivery to those in aspecific group or, by default, allow openaccess. Users can send and receive tweetsvia the Twitter website, Short MessageService (SMS) or external applications.While the service, itself, costs nothing to use,accessing it through SMS may incur phoneservice provider fees.

7

Using Social Networks

Risks – Young People’s Attitudes

Recent research by Ofcom discovered emergingtrends amongst young people (and in manycases, adults) about their online usage habits:

• A general lack of awareness of the issues;• The assumption that privacy and safety issueshave been taken care of by the sitesthemselves;

• Low levels of confidence among users in theirability to manipulate privacy settings;

• Willingness to add and engage quickly andeasily with people they don’t know – e.g.adding friends of friends, sharing photos andmessages with strangers;

• Information on privacy and safety being hard tofind on sites;

• Feeling among younger users that they areinvincible;

• Perception that social networking sites are lessdangerous than other online activities.

This leaves young people potentially exposed topredatory individuals who could lie about their ageor other details in order to access and engage theyoung person.

These topics lend themselves to one-to-one andgroup work discussion with young people, to raisetheir awareness of the risks and work should bedone in order to keep them safe.

Workers also have the opportunity to engage withyoung people about the content on their individualprofiles if they have shared it with staff or beenadvised of potentially inappropriate content. Inexactly the same way that workers shouldchallenge inappropriate racist, sexist, sectarian orhomophobic language within a youth club setting,young people’s online profiles provide anexcellent opportunity for informal education.

Should Organisations Use SocialNetworking?

Young people are often regarded by marketers as“hard to reach” as they are shunning traditionalcommunication tools and their mediaconsumption is increasingly fragmented. As apopular online space, social networking sitestherefore provide a place to reach young people.Hence, a very diverse range of organisations haveembraced social networking as a means ofcommunicating with young people.

However, there are barriers to using such sites.Many organisations, including schools, councilsand large businesses have preventive firewalls tosuch social networking sites. There are alsosignificant safety issues surrounding the availabilityof information on social networking sites andconcerns about their influence in young peoplelives. One example relates to the Bridge Endsuicides where police thought that Bebo indirectlyencouraged young people to commit suicide.11

It should be noted that, in general, criminal lawapplies equally to the Internet as elsewhere andwhat is illegal offline is illegal online.

Tim Davies identifies in ‘Safe and EffectiveEngagement with Social Network Sites for YouthProfessionals’ that there are five ways that youngpeople can be engaged:12

• Supporting young people with information andopportunities for reflection and groupdiscussion about SNS and online behaviour

• Promoting services and provision throughsocial networking sites

• Using social networking sites to enhance faceto face work with young people

• Using social networking sites for onlineresearch, participation and virtual detachedyouth work

• Supporting young people to carry out peer topeer work online

8

Professional Guidance

The next section of these notes providespractitioners with recommendations for bestpractice when using social networking sites.Before the conference, YouthLink Scotlandproduced draft guidance that aimed to providedelegates with information on how to use socialnetworking sites to engage with young people.During the event these guidance notes werediscussed by all the delegates to determine if theymet the needs of practitioners. From the variousdiscussions the following recommendations ofbest practice have been established.

Online Professional Boundaries

1. Workers need to introduce themselves clearly,stating the purpose of the work – why they areengaging with young people and the limits andboundaries in that contact. Youth workersshould use a clearly identifiable work profile.Under no circumstances should workers beundertaking work related activity from apersonal profile.

2. Young people should not add their youth workersto their own profile. The young person should benotified through the organisation’s profile thatexplains the boundaries and welcoming contactthrough the organisation’s channel.

3. Workers should take care about the visibility oftheir own profiles in public and ensure theappropriate privacy controls are set. A youthworkers digital identity is equally as crucial astheir professional persona and should betreated as valuably!

4. Young people also need to be told who theycan contact if they have any concerns orcomplaints about the online engagement.

5. If young people have access to posts on theorganisational profile page, considerationneeds to be given to ensuring this isappropriately moderated. Check the settings ofthe site to make sure that posts have to beapproved on any forums.

6. If a young person wants an organisation addedto their profile they should be reminded that thiswill be visible to anyone that can see theirprofile. This is particularly important if theorganisation is engaged in support of sensitiveissues for example such as health outreach orsupport with sexuality issues.

Advice for Youth Workers to pass ontoYoung People

1. Be careful not to share too much information topeople you don’t really know. After all, youwouldn’t invite a stranger into a room andrandomly disclose everything about you, so 2.

2. If you see anything suspicious online report it toan adult or those running the site. Save anytranscript of strange conversation – cut andpaste it.

3. Block any contacts that are harassing orupsetting you.

4. Be careful what you post or share! Consider ifyou wouldn’t want your parents or carers to seeit, would you share it? If the answer’s no thendon’t post it online.

5. Don’t post pictures wearing school uniforms orany other identifying items – this could allowpeople to track you down – the lessinformation, the better!

6. Don’t give out specific information on tweets,Facebook, Bebo, etc – for example don’t say –“I’m going to JP’s for a party Sat at AtholeGardens, Glasgow” just say “Off to partytonight – excited! “ – this makes it harder forthose who would try to use your information.

7. Think about what pictures you post online.Once you post something it’s difficult to get itback as you don’t know where it has beenforwarded to or who else has taken a copy! Ifyou’re not happy sharing it round the commonroom why are you posting it online?

Management Challenges

• Is there an appropriate online safety policy for staff?

• Is there an effective cyber bullying policy withclear guidance for staff?

• Is there a system for gathering online youthwork and recording staff concerns? Is there anappropriate process for reviewing recordings?

• Can staff access sites such as Facebook and Bebo or is access blocked by the ITdepartment’s firewall?

• What training needs do staff have in order tooperate in an online environment? Outreachwork for example, delivered via social networkingis as specialist a discipline as street basedyouth work – requiring basic ICT skills, abilityto understand young people’s online shorthand(e.g. LOL – laughs out loud!) and awareness ofsome of the dangers in an online setting.

9

Child Protection – Recording OnlineActivity

In general, a youth worker is no more or less likelyto encounter situations online which give rise tochild protection concerns than they would incomparable face-to face work. Any situation thatcauses concern should be responded to in linewith existing professional practice

Online activity should be recorded using the sameprocesses that apply with offline youth work. As a minimum:

• A log of who was contacted (username)• Any issues raised during the discussion • Any inappropriate behaviours/dialogue andactions taken

• Any follow up actions required as a result of theinteraction (requests for information, additionaladvice/signposting etc).

All staff should be aware of the general childprotection and reporting guidelines for anorganisation. These guidelines will apply for onlineyouth work as well as for face-to-face work. Anyconcerns should be raised with senior managersor the appropriate child protection/e-safety co-ordinator within an organisation and all actionsshould be recorded.

The use of images or videos online means thatconsent forms should be completed. Obviously ifthe young person is aged under 16 then a parentor guardian needs to sign it on their behalf.

Inclusion and Accessibility

Youth Work is committed to supporting all youngpeople so they feel included and supported in allyouth work activity, and to maintaining anenvironment free of discrimination and exclusion.

The same principles apply to the use of socialnetworking as a tool for the delivery of a qualityyouth work experience. Workers should giveparticular consideration to inclusion andaccessibility. You should align your practice toorganisational policies such as equalities, inclusion,access, disability, discrimination and diversity.

Help

There are four main organisations to turn to if thereis a suspicion that a young person is in immediatedanger. If a young person is in immediate dangertelephone 999. The other three areas wheresupport can be gained are:

CEOPThe Child Exploitation and Online ProtectionCentre (CEOP) are a police agency with powersto investigate concerns about grooming or sexualabuse of young people online. Professionals andyoung people can report concerns to CEOP viathe ‘Report Abuse’ button on their website.http://www.ceop.gov.uk

IWFThe Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) respond toreports of obscene and illegal content on theinternet. Content can be report to the IWF and theywill work with Internet Service Providers to ensurethe content is removed or access to it is blocked.http://www.iwf.org.uk

Network ProviderResponsible website providers will have clearprocesses for dealing with reports of abuseincluding inappropriate content or bullying. Forconcerns which do not involve illegal content orconduct, look for the ‘report abuse’ feature on thewebsite in question. Most social network sites onlycheck content when alerted to it by users.

Training The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre(CEOP) offers two courses on social networkingsafety that have a particular focus on Bebo.

One course is a half day that allows adults whowork with 11-16 year olds to deliver safety trainingto young people. In addition it explains many ofthe popular online and mobile technologies thatyoung people are using.

The other is a full day course costing £125 traininga person to become a CEOP Ambassador. Thetraining provides both a law enforcement andeducation perspective. Once the training iscompleted the ambassador can cascade traincolleagues and young people. www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teacherswww.ceop.gov.uk

10

GLOSSARYApplication Pieces of software usually created by third party developers that

interact with the core features of a social networking site. Examplesinclude trivia quizzes.

Blog (short for weblog) It’s a frequently updated journal that is intended to be public. It usuallyrepresents the personality of the website.

CEOP The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre – the primary lawenforcement authority in the UK for child protection on the Internet.

Cyberbullying Bullying that happens on the internet.

Digital Literacy The ability to access and understand online communications.

Friend These are members of a profiles network and are not necessary friendsin real life.

Instant Messaging Real time communication between two or more people based on typed text.

Skin The background or texture of a user’s profile. These can includepatterns, animations, photos and other formatting.

Relevant Documents

Youth Work and Social Networking: ttp://blog.practicalparticipation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/fullYouth-Work-and-Social-Networking-Final-Report.pdf

The Youth Engagement & Social Media Guide: http://www.practicalparticipation.co.uk/yes/

The Youth Work Online Community of Practitioners: http://www.youthworkonline.org.uk

Circuits of Cool: Key Themes and Findings: http://advertising.microsoft.com/wwdocs/user/en-us/researchlibrary/researchreport/Circuits-of-Cool-Social-Networks.PDF

Ofcom: Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behavioursand use: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/summary/

UK children’s media literacy: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/uk_childrens_ml/full_report.pdf

FOOTNOTES

1. Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative researchreport into attitudes, behaviour and use, April 2008

2. Circuits of Cool: Key Themes and Findings, MicrosoftDigital Advertising Solutions and MTV Networks globalyouth research project, 01/02/2008

3. The Impact of Social Networking in the UK, ExperianHitwise, 2008

4. http://www.digizen.org/socialnetworking/5. The Impact of Social Networking in the UK, Experian

Hitwise, 2008 6. Global Faces and Networked Places, A Nielsen report on

Social Networking’s New Global Footprint, March 20097. www.bebo.com8. The Impact of Social Networking in the UK, Experian

Hitwise, 2008 9. Global Faces and Networked Places, A Nielsen report on

Social Networking’s New Global Footprint, March 200910. http://about.ning.com/11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7204172.stm12. Safe and Effective Engagement with Social Network Sites

for Youth Professionals, Tim Davies, July 2009 11

YouthLink Scotland, Rosebery House, 9 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 5EZ.T: 0131 313 2488. F: 0131 313 6800. E: info@youtnlinkscotland.org. W: www.youthlinkscotland.org

Young Scot, Rosebery House, 9 Haymarket Terrrace, Edinburgh EH12 5EZ.T: 0131 313 2488. F: 0131 313 6800. E: info@youngscot.org W: www.youngscot.org or www.youngscot.net

YouthLink Scotland is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in Scotland No: 164547. Charity Ref: SCO03923Young Scot is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in Scotland No: 202687. Charity Ref: SC029757