5.5 Social media safety issues

Section 3 touched on your digital wellbeing, and preventing isolation, building and maintaining relationships and reducing loneliness were all identified as positive aspects of digital activity. These can be achieved by participating in social media and social networking. However, there are also safety issues associated with social media, particularly around inappropriate posting. This could be as a result of you inadvertently or deliberately posting inappropriate content, or it could be inappropriate responses to your social media activity.

Your organisation should have guidance on what is permissible on social media, with the consequences of not following this advice made very clear.

You may receive negative responses from other social media users. Comments that do not agree with your views or perspectives are perfectly acceptable, but you may find yourself overwhelmed by a ‘backlash’ of comments, or even a victim of cyberbullying or harassment. If so, you need to consider how to, or even whether to, respond to this.