¶ … MSW student Social support through social networking sites; case in point - YouTube

Way before the Internet exploded, Marshall McLuhan (1964) said that "the medium is the message." His statement is applicable in our society today where the internet is instrumental in communication. Communication technology has grown and continues to grow exponentially and it cannot be ignored in the current environment. It has altered the way people interact, how we learn and how we entertain ourselves. Because of the exponential growth of information sharing and electronic communication, pioneers in social support have come up with ways to use communication technology for treatment (Huang and Alessi 1996; Murphy and Mitchell1998; Smith and Reynolds 2002) and also to give interventions on the internet (Mishna et al., 2012).

This essay will seek to establish how social networking sites have impacted the practice of social support and ethical issues arising: how social networking sites have impacted social and personal identities, ways in which these sites have influenced functional and geographical communities, the psychological implications of social networking, and then the significance of social networking through anti-oppressive dimensions. This will be done through literature analysis and the social networking site referenced is YouTube.

YouTube was started in 2005 and is a site for sharing videos and is one of the most popular websites. The videos in YouTube are from all over the world and are in different languages and have a very wide reach in the United States - even more than any particular cable network. It is a free site and can be accessed by anyone who has internet connection. The possible disadvantages and advantages of sharing sensitive information regarding health on the social media have been discussed extensively and people are using social media channels like YouTube to look for advice or share experiences they have had. Because of the growth of social media, let's wait and see if people will turn to YouTube to get support for their Severe Mental Illness (SMI) (Naslund et al., 2014).

In the recent past people have started viewing social media as more than just platforms to broadcast thoughts and opinions and less serious musings at a time when other means may be ineffective (Norval et al., 2011). According to Naslund et al. (2014), YouTube is the third major social networking site based on user accounts after Facebook and Google+. YouTube is a video-sharing social networking site that allows users to create accounts, subscribe to channels, it is free, and anyone can upload videos. In additional, it allows commenting and sharing of videos with other users. This aspect of YouTube makes it a powerful networking tool that opens up an opportunity for successful social work.

Impact of YouTube on:

1. Social Practice

As the saying goes, a problem shared a problem half solved. YouTube is available in 61 different languages and anyone with access to the internet can view videos on the platform, upload, post comments as well as share videos with others. Even though there are certain risks that come with sharing health information with others, YouTube is rapidly becoming one of the avenues persons and patients are turning to YouTube to share their experiences or seek information from persons who have or are experiencing the same situation.

Social media gives opportunities for people to build connection and to receive or give support and also share the experiences they had. Various groups have been formed on Facebook for various illnesses and videos posted on YouTube and even forums set up to share and discuss various experiences. An example of such a forum is PatientsLikeMe. In spite of the massive usage of social media by the rest of the population, less attention has been afforded to the use of social media by people with SMI (Nusland et al., 2014).

People with severe mental illness (SMI) are likely to share their views through blogs or building relationships in social media or make use of the Internet to get information regarding their conditions since social media as a medium is non-threatening and gives them opportunities for connecting with other individuals while at the comfort and safety of their homes. Yet, there is uncertainty in what ways social media may be made use of in providing peer support among SMI individuals (Nasland et al., 2014).

YouTube has impacted social support practice in that, the support provider (professional), does not have to necessarily make physical contact with the person seeking support (Reamer, 2013). In cases where distance and time are barriers to physical communication, YouTube provides the bridge....

The social support provider can record a video message, upload it on YouTube and share it with the intended person. This platform therefore provides storage capabilities which are not available through the instant video chat platforms (Naslund et al., 2014). YouTube has therefore served to broaden the practice of social support by providing more provider-client, provider-provider, and client-client networking opportunities.
In YouTube's context, people from all walks of life come to the site to search for information regarding their health condition and also make use of it to share their stories and experiences. For instances, analysis of YouTube videos and comments shared by individuals with multiple sclerosis reveal that several people disclose their personal conditions on such platforms and also upload videos to advice or give treatment to other people suffering from the same conditions (Naslund et al., 2014).

With the growth of social media, professionals in the field are just beginning to explore the vast potential of social media and establishing rules to govern the interaction of patients and professionals in such platforms (Brown, 2010) (Judd & Johnston, 2012). This rapid growth has various implications for the field. Cyber communication can be used universally and is unavoidable. It isn't practical to adopt policies that prohibit cyber communication between professionals and clients as clients can always scour the internet and find the contact information of the various practitioners (Mishna et al., 2012).

2. Social and Personal Identities

YouTube has a major effect on improving on an individual's social identity. This is mainly so when the video uploaded is relevant and makes sense across the majority of users (Naslund et al., 2014). The primary likability measure for YouTube videos is the number of views and to some extent, shares. The more the number of views, the higher the video is ranked as relevant to that specific niche. If a social support provider makes a video and it receives a high enough number of views, it increases the popularity of the provider among social support seekers. This therefore positively impacts on the social identity of the provider by making him/her better known.

From another angle of social identity (e.g. Hogg & Abrams, 1988) PC (political correctness) discourses do not loudly discuss various social groups and so the members of such groups might feel alienated. On one side are people who may be threatened by the claims and demands of individuals that come from groups that have always been disadvantaged. The threat may be perceived as a right-wing backlash. The perceived threat is to a social group that the individual belongs to and is grounded on the group's privileges or rights. Such kind of threats has been connected to various psychological processes. Spears, Doosje, and Ellemers (1997) for instance, discovered that when threatened, high group identifiers self-stereotyped more. Jetten, Spears and Manstead (1997) also discovered more in-group bias under the same conditions. Grant (1993) showed that a threat to a group's identity caused more intergroup differentiation (Lalonde et al., 2000).

People who are identified as Blacks, gays/lesbians or feminists are the more likely to believe the stereotype of PC basher and less of the stereotype of PC crusader. Such beliefs imply that the individual thinks that other groups threaten his/her group's ideologies (Lalonde et al., 2000).

Gender Ideology: Some differences among the groups were predicted in PC perceptions because the groups hold different beliefs. Feminists or their supporters were not as likely to concur with the stereotype of PC basher in both non-traditional and traditional respondents. Self-identified feminists scored much lower on the conservative attitude measures (protestant ethic, RWA and ideological meritocracy) than both the non-traditional and traditional respondents (Lalonde et al., 2000). Feminists and their supporters made use of the term 'political correctness" more often than the non-traditional and traditional respondents.

Sexual Orientation: Various differences existed between the heterosexuals and the gays/lesbians. The belief in the PC crusader stereotype was believed more among the heterosexuals than the groups that belonged to the gay/lesbian inclinations that had stronger beliefs in the stereotype of PC basher (Lalonde et al., 2000).

Race: No differences that were predicted could be found between Whites and Blacks as far as the two stereotypes are concerned. Just one difference comes to fore. Self-identified white people were more likely to make use of the term PC as they talked (M_2.26) than their black counterparts (M_1.50, t (43)_4.15, p