An Analysis of the Use and Policies Regarding Social Media Use as a Work Tool in Public Rehabilitation

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Garcia ◽  
Robert J. Zeglin ◽  
Shari Matray ◽  
Robert Froehlich ◽  
Ronica Marable ◽  
...  

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to gather descriptive data on the professional use of social media in public rehabilitation settings and to analyze existing social media policies in those agencies through content analysis.Methods: The authors sent a survey to all state administrators or directors of these agencies (N = 50) in the United States, requesting frequency and other descriptive information, plus a copy of their social media policies (if available). The available policies were reviewed using content analysis procedures.Results: The results showed that although the frequency of social media use was high, training and inclusion of ethics was low. Regarding policy, approximately 42% reported a lack of an existing policy, and 38% were unsure about having a policy guide. The analysis of the available policies yielded 11 themes around which these policies were organized.Discussion: The authors offer a discussion of these results and its implications for policy and practice as well as future research. These include the need for more comprehensive social media policy creation in agencies and the role of clinical supervisors in ensuring ethical practice.

Author(s):  
Tracii Ryan ◽  
Kelly A. Allen ◽  
DeLeon L. Gray ◽  
Dennis M. McInerney

The use of social media is rapidly increasing, and one of the major discussions of the 21st century revolves around how the use of these applications will impact on the social relationships of users. To contribute to this discussion, we present a brief narrative review highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of social media use on three key aspects of social connectedness: social capital, sense of community, and loneliness. The results indicate that using social media can increase social capital, lead to the formation of friendships and communities, and reduce loneliness. However, some social media site users may experience weakening friendships, online ostracism, and heightened loneliness. Therefore, we argue that the use of social media has contradictory effects on social connectedness. Moreover, the direction of these outcomes is contingent upon who is using the site and how they are using it. Based on these arguments, possible directions for future research are discussed. It is recommended that discourse be continued relating to the association between online social behaviour and connectedness, as this will enable researchers to establish whether the positive outcomes of social media use outweigh the negative.


Author(s):  
Johannes Knoll ◽  
Jörg Matthes ◽  
Raffael Heiss

Although studies suggest that the use of social media can promote political participation (PP), there is a lack of theorizing about the psychological processes underlying this relationship. This article attempts to fill this gap by suggesting a social media political participation model. Taking a goal systemic perspective, the model specifies a set of interrelated processes that need to be realized so that social media use affects PP. Furthermore, key contingent conditions are outlined and insights into fostering PP are offered. The article explains ways of testing the model with surveys and experiments. Implications for future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
Guido Lang ◽  
Raquel Benbunan-Fich

Recent disasters highlight the importance of social media supporting critical information gathering and dissemination efforts by members of the public. Given that disasters pose unique challenges and social media are evolving rapidly, how can one compare the effectiveness of social media in different disaster situations? Drawing from prior work on e-participation, this paper proposes a novel framework for social media use based on four key modules: selection, facilitation, deliberation, and aggregation. A comparative analysis of social media use following a man-made disaster (the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy) and during a natural disaster (the 2009 Britain blizzard) exemplifies the value of the proposed framework. Future research can build on and leverage the present work by analyzing and incorporating additional cases on the use of social media in disaster situations.


Societies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Hruska ◽  
Petra Maresova

Social media has evolved over the last decade to become an important driver for acquiring and spreading information in different domains such as business, entertainment, crisis management, and politics. The increasing popularity of social media raises a number of questions regarding why we use it so much and what aspects influence this activity. What about gender? What about education, income, age or social status? This paper answers some of these questions using statistical analyses and by dividing overall social media use into selected social media, i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitter. The analysis used a dataset that contains information related to 2002 respondents from the U.S. and their social media activity. The results show that people with high household incomes and high education use social media the most. As age increases, social media use decreases, while bigger household income means that social media are used more. Overall, understanding where and at what frequency users are on social media can be a key competitive advantage. When using social networks correctly for marketing, companies can significantly improve their brand awareness, customer satisfaction, quality, reach, and profit.


Author(s):  
Stefania Manca ◽  
Maria Ranieri

<p class="3">Research on scholars’ use of social media suggests that these sites are increasingly being used to enhance scholarly communication by strengthening relationships, facilitating collaboration among peers, publishing and sharing research products, and discussing research topics in open and public formats. However, very few studies have investigated perceptions and attitudes towards social media use for scholarly communication of large cohorts of scholars at national level. This study investigates the reasons for using social media sites for scholarly communication among a large sample of Italian university scholars (N=6139) with the aim of analysing what factors mainly affect these attitudes. The motivations for using social media were analysed in connection with frequency of use and factors like gender, age, years of teaching, academic title, and disciplinary field. The results point out that for the most used tools the influence of the variables examined was higher in shaping scholars’ motivations. In fact, frequency of use, age, years of teaching, and disciplinary field were found to be relevant factors especially for LinkedIn and ResearchGate-Academia.edu, while gender and academic title seemed to have a limited impact on scholars’ motivations for all social media sites considered in the study. Considerations for future research are provided along with limitations of the study.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaël Opgenhaffen ◽  
An-Sofie Claeys

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine employers’ policy with regard to employees’ social media use. Specifically, the authors examine the extent to which employers allow the use of social media in the workplace, what opportunities can be related to employees’ social media use and how social media guidelines are implemented within organizations. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with HR and communication managers of 16 European companies from different sectors and of varying size. Findings Some organizations believe that social media should be accessible to employees while others ban them from the workplace. Most respondents believe that organizations can benefit from employees sharing work-related content with their own network. However, they encourage the sharing and retweeting of official corporate messages rather than employees developing their own messages. This fear regarding employees’ messages on social media is reflected in the broad adoption of social media guidelines. Research limitations/implications Future research should chart the nature of existing social media guidelines (restrictive vs incentive). Accordingly, the perceived sense and nonsense of social media guidelines in companies should be investigated, not only among the managers but also among employees. Practical implications Organizations should remain in dialogue with employees with regard to social media. Managers seem overly concerned with potential risks and forget the opportunities that can arise when employees operate as ambassadors. Originality/value The use of in-depth interviews allowed the authors to assess the rationale behind social media guidelines within organizations in depth and formulate suggestions to organizations and communication managers.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin F Kelleher ◽  
Philip F Giampietro ◽  
Megan A Moreno

BACKGROUND Young people with genetic conditions often face challenges coping with their health condition. It can be difficult for them to meet someone with a similar condition, which is important for reinforcement of chronic illness management recommendations. Social media is used by 97% of young people in the United States and may provide those with these disorders a space for emotional expression and support. However, there is a scarcity of literature related to the use of social media among adolescents with genetic conditions as an indicator of their perception regarding their own condition. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this pilot study was to obtain preliminary data to assess and understand social media use by young people with connective tissue disorders and determine whether they use social media to connect with patients with similar conditions or whether they would be interested in doing so. METHODS We undertook a pilot study of selected connective tissue disorders occurring in young people between the ages of 11 and 25 years, including Marfan syndrome; Ehlers-Danlos syndrome subtypes classical, classical-like, cardiac-valvular, and vascular; Beals congenital contractual arachnodactyly; and Alport hereditary nephritis. The study took place within one pediatric clinical system. Patients were identified through electronic medical record search and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, coding at a Midwest university–based clinical system. Study subjects completed a short survey describing their experiences with their connective tissue disorders, their means of self-expression, their existing network of persons to communicate with, and their use of social media. Data analysis included nominal and bivariate regressions to compare social media use in relation to age. RESULTS Our 31 participants (42% response rate) were 55% female (17/31) and their average age was 18 years (SD 5). All participants used social media and there were no statistically significant differences between social media use and age. The majority of participants (25/30, 83%) reported that they never used social media to discuss their condition (<i>P</i>=.09), and only 17% (5/30) knew someone online with a similar condition (<i>P</i>=.50). Most participants (19/30, 63%) said they would communicate with someone with a similar disorder (<i>P</i>=.64). CONCLUSIONS We found that young individuals with connective tissue disorders use at least one type of social media. A majority did not use social media to discuss their condition or know someone online with a similar condition. However, many persons were interested in finding others similarly affected. Social media could serve as a platform for young people with connective tissue disorders to connect. Peer support is important in disease management and adolescent development. Future studies should aim at understanding social media use among young people with connective tissue disorders and helping them connect with other people who have similar conditions.


Author(s):  
Guido Lang ◽  
Raquel Benbunan-Fich

Recent disasters highlight the importance of social media supporting critical information gathering and dissemination efforts by members of the public. Given that disasters pose unique challenges and social media are evolving rapidly, how can one compare the effectiveness of social media in different disaster situations? Drawing from prior work on e-participation, this article proposes a novel framework for social media use based on four key modules: selection, facilitation, deliberation, and aggregation. A comparative analysis of social media use following a man-made disaster (the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy) and during a natural disaster (the 2009 Britain blizzard) exemplifies the value of the proposed framework. Future research can build on and leverage the present work by analyzing and incorporating additional cases on the use of social media in disaster situations.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Dol ◽  
Perri R Tutelman ◽  
Christine T Chambers ◽  
Melanie Barwick ◽  
Emily K Drake ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Health researchers are increasingly using social media in a professional capacity, and the applications of social media for health researchers are vast. However, there is currently no published evidence synthesis of the ways in which health researchers use social media professionally, and uncertainty remains as to how best to harness its potential. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aimed to explore how social media is used by health researchers professionally, as reported in the literature. METHODS The scoping review methodology guided by Arksey and O’Malley and Levac et al was used. Comprehensive searches based on the concepts of health research and social media were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science databases, with no limitations applied. Articles were screened at the title and abstract level and at full text by two reviewers. One reviewer extracted data that were analyzed descriptively to map the available evidence. RESULTS A total of 8359 articles were screened at the title and abstract level, of which 719 were also assessed at full text for eligibility. The 414 articles identified for inclusion were published in 278 different journals. Studies originated from 31 different countries, with the most prevalent being the United States (52.7% [218/414]). The health discipline of the first authors varied, with medicine (33.3% [138/414]) being the most common. A third of the articles covered health generally, with 61 health-specific topics. Papers used a range of social media platforms (mean 1.33 [SD 0.7]). A quarter of the articles screened reported on social media use for participant recruitment (25.1% [104/414]), followed by practical ways to use social media (15.5% [64/414]), and use of social media for content analysis research (13.3% [55/414]). Articles were categorized as <italic>celebratory</italic> (ie, opportunities for engagement, 72.2% [299/414]), <italic>contingent</italic> (ie, opportunities and possible limitations, 22.7% [94/414]) and <italic>concerned</italic> (ie, potentially harmful, 5.1% [21/414]). CONCLUSIONS Health researchers are increasingly publishing on their use of social media for a range of professional purposes. Although most of the sentiment around the use of social media in health research was celebratory, the uses of social media varied widely. Future research is needed to support health researchers to optimize their social media use.


10.2196/13687 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. e13687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Dol ◽  
Perri R Tutelman ◽  
Christine T Chambers ◽  
Melanie Barwick ◽  
Emily K Drake ◽  
...  

Background Health researchers are increasingly using social media in a professional capacity, and the applications of social media for health researchers are vast. However, there is currently no published evidence synthesis of the ways in which health researchers use social media professionally, and uncertainty remains as to how best to harness its potential. Objective This scoping review aimed to explore how social media is used by health researchers professionally, as reported in the literature. Methods The scoping review methodology guided by Arksey and O’Malley and Levac et al was used. Comprehensive searches based on the concepts of health research and social media were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science databases, with no limitations applied. Articles were screened at the title and abstract level and at full text by two reviewers. One reviewer extracted data that were analyzed descriptively to map the available evidence. Results A total of 8359 articles were screened at the title and abstract level, of which 719 were also assessed at full text for eligibility. The 414 articles identified for inclusion were published in 278 different journals. Studies originated from 31 different countries, with the most prevalent being the United States (52.7% [218/414]). The health discipline of the first authors varied, with medicine (33.3% [138/414]) being the most common. A third of the articles covered health generally, with 61 health-specific topics. Papers used a range of social media platforms (mean 1.33 [SD 0.7]). A quarter of the articles screened reported on social media use for participant recruitment (25.1% [104/414]), followed by practical ways to use social media (15.5% [64/414]), and use of social media for content analysis research (13.3% [55/414]). Articles were categorized as celebratory (ie, opportunities for engagement, 72.2% [299/414]), contingent (ie, opportunities and possible limitations, 22.7% [94/414]) and concerned (ie, potentially harmful, 5.1% [21/414]). Conclusions Health researchers are increasingly publishing on their use of social media for a range of professional purposes. Although most of the sentiment around the use of social media in health research was celebratory, the uses of social media varied widely. Future research is needed to support health researchers to optimize their social media use.


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