Social Work Groups and Technology: Communication Strategies

This discussion explores the role of social media in facilitating group communication, emphasizing its ability to enhance speed, diversity, and effectiveness. It highlights safeguards for online group communication, such as creating private groups and using admin approval for membership. The author shares personal experiences, including using Facebook to reconnect with a friend and a misunderstanding arising from a joke shared online, which could have been avoided in a face-to-face setting. Key guidelines for governing group activities, like respecting privacy and avoiding vulgar content, are also discussed. Furthermore, the discussion addresses challenges in running groups via technology, such as varying technical skills among members and the risk of data breaches, alongside practical implications like improved connectivity and coordination. It summarizes findings that technology simplifies group management and enhances communication, leading to efficient coordination. The discussion concludes by identifying reasons clients prefer technological groups, including technology integration, troubleshooting, and learning new technologies, making this resource invaluable for understanding the intersection of social work and digital communication. Desklib provides this document and many more solved assignments to help students.

Activity 1:
Role of social media in group communication:
Social media is helping group communication by making the communication faster,
more diverse and more effective. It is easier to create group with social media and add people
to the group. Then it is possible to communicate with all the group member at the same time.
Safeguards groups can adopt when communicating via social media:
 Creating close and private group
 Creating link to join the group. In order to join the group one needs to consider the
link only
 Procedure to join the group is only subject to admin approval
Two social media I and my friend frequently used. One problem that I solved with
social media:
Two social media that are frequently used are Facebook and Whatsapp.
With the help of Facebook, we communicated with our old mutual friend. Although
we wanted to contact him, we did not have his number. So we tried to search him in the
Facebook and we found him eventually. After then we sent him friend request and when he
accepted we started talking and we also met each other as plan was made.
Misunderstanding I have experienced while using social media. How might it have
been avoided in a face-to-face setting?
I cracked a joke on my friend’s new job, but I could not realize that he took it
personally and stopped talking with me. However I had no idea about that. When I met him
in person and asked about the same I came to know about it.

It was a case of misunderstanding which could have been easily avoided if the
communication was done in face-to-face setting.
Rule or guideline to govern group activities:
 Respect privacy of the group members
 Never allow vulgar content to the group. Specially contents that are sensitive and
might destroy proper communication motive
 Ask for each of the members opinion while making any group related activities
Activity 2:
Some of the challenges in running groups via technology:
 All members are not technically sound
 Chance of data hack
 Any technical issues leads to interrupted communication within the group
Some practical implications for running a group via technology:
 Ease of managing group activities
 Better connectivity and increased coordination within the group
 Enhanced communication
Summary of some of the findings related to running groups via technology:
Technology helps to create and manage group easily. It provides direct access to the
group communication and it also allows to share information within the group easily. Due to
this coordination as well as communication within the group is effective and efficient as well.
Identification of the reasons for which some clients prefer technological groups:
Some clients prefer technological groups as it provides several benefits such as:

 It helps company to integrate technology within organisational process
 Provides solution to technical trouble shooting
 Identify latest and improved technologies and provide advice for the same
 Learn new technologies in simplified way with step by step tutorial
Due to various benefits as discussed above, some clients prefer to join technological
groups.