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The New Social Worker is the quarterly magazine for social work students and recent graduates, focusing on social work careers for those new to the profession. This blog is a companion to the free online magazine at http://www.socialworker.com.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

To Tweet or Not to Tweet

If Shakespeare were alive today, couldn't you just picture him asking that question? It's really amazing how fast technology tools are being developed these days. It's one of my favorite topics and I still have a hard time keeping on top of all the technology sometimes!

For those of you who have no idea what Twitter is, I highly recommend watching this Daily Show clip:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Twitter Frenzy
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		Economic CrisisPolitical Humor


For an upcoming SW 2.0 column, I'm looking to focus on and showcase how social workers use services like Twitter. Do you use Twitter? If so, have any issues come up for your social work practice? What do you recommend to other social workers interested in learning why and how to use Twitter?

You can check out my Twitter updates at: http://twitter.com/karenzgoda
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8 comments:

  1. Mercedes MarieApril 15, 2009 at 2:34 PM

    in what capacity are you interviewing social workers? I use Twitter to network with other social workers, or to talk to other professionals, but never to talk about client cases! please email me at mestan07@gmail.com

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  2. cbApril 15, 2009 at 2:55 PM

    I use twitter - often to relate articles of interest that I come across quickly but I've definitely made links with other social workers because I identify myself as a social work blogger. I have also made good use of www.wefollow.com to find other social workers - in fact, it has been the best source. I find twitter useful as well to build up relationships and news with non-profit organisations that are relevant to my work - I can't tweet from work though so am restricted to home time!
    I would recommend other social workers get involved in blogging, social networking and building conversational dialogues - with other social workers internationally but also with users of services in other capacities. I have found a great deal of insight from reading mental health blogs (I am a mental health social worker) and understanding better the views of professionals from 'the other side'. I've also created virtual links with nurses and doctors and hopefully helped to spread the important work that is done by social workers in mental health services in general.
    The blogging and the tweeting have informed my practice, and I believe, improved it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cbApril 15, 2009 at 3:02 PM

    Oh, I forgot to add my twitter ID which is @monstertalk

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erik KruseApril 15, 2009 at 3:39 PM

    I use twitter to keep in touch with colleagues and fellow social workers, but also use different online communities for doing outreach social work towards youth at risk. Feel free to email me at erik.kruse@bgo.oslo.kommune.no. And add me at twitter @erik_kruse.

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  5. Karen ZgodaApril 17, 2009 at 12:30 AM

    Wow, I'm overwhelmed by all the responses! Thank you so much in advance. I'll be getting in touch with you shortly!

    ReplyDelete
  6. psychotherapistinthesouthApril 17, 2009 at 12:45 AM

    Hi Karen-

    Can you handle a fourth?
    Tweet, tweet...
    Check out this YouTube video about Twitter; it's pretty basic, but helpful for newbies.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

    http://twitter.com/tjrutherford

    ReplyDelete
  7. NoelitaApril 18, 2009 at 7:36 PM

    I'm a final year MSSW candidate at the University of Texas.

    Absolutely agree w/CB!

    During breaks and lunch, I log on to Twitter using my phone. I especially like doing Twitter trend searches to see what others are talking about. My favorite people to follow are people that tweet about things that are informative, challenge us to take action, and balance those tweets with occasional humor and offbeat stuff.

    You can find me at @BooBoo3000

    ReplyDelete
  8. Karen ZgodaMay 31, 2009 at 4:13 PM

    Many, many thank yous all for your comments! I'm hoping to include them all in the article. Stay tuned!

    ReplyDelete

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