AUGUST 24: COMMUNITY WELLNESS & PEER SUPPORTS TRANSFORMATION TEAM |
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About Fostering Positive Digital Communities for Youth
The impacts of COVID-19 have propelled many System of Care partnerships and organizations into using virtual meeting spaces to convene for the purpose of organization, engagement, team building, service delivery and collaboration. Some organizations have found more success than others in being able to engage youth in online platforms. The following are 5 things you should know from communities who have found success in hosting digital communities in partnership with youth.
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#1: Choose the correct platform for the purpose of the group.
Some platforms are built for the option of maintaining anonymity (e.g., Discord, Zoom, Snapchat) and will allow you to sign up with just an email address. There are other platforms that require more account information and are designed to foster more team building and networking (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Facebook, Slack).
There are online platforms built to be overseen by a moderator (e.g., Slack and Zoom) and others that allow users to control their privacy and what can be shared with the group’s owner. Depending on the purpose and work of your group, as well the ages of the members, these are important things to consider when setting up or designing an online space with youth.
If you are interested in networking and sharing the message of your group publicly, you will want to choose the correct platform in which to do so. These are decisions that should be made by the group members and can always be revisited at a later time.
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#2: Consider roles/moderators.
Like in-person meetings, successful online meetings usually have specific roles and identified responsibilities in place. Depending on your group and the online platform you select, you may need designated roles such as a room host, tech host, and community moderator, in addition to the typical in-person roles like chair, facilitator, timekeeper, etc. Examples of the specific online roles of various members and their responsibilities follow:
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Room host: This person is usually the leader or chair of the meeting. They convene the meeting and are responsible for ensuring the online culture is a warm and welcoming environment. They help to create a space in which people feel seen, safe, valued, and respected. They welcome people to the meeting room and help foster conversation and a spirit of authenticity in the room.
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Tech host: The Tech Host develops and shares the link for the meeting and provides ongoing support and technical assistance for people trying to join the meeting. They might help troubleshoot issues related to video and audio capabilities, tell people how to raise their hand, use reactions, name themselves, access the meeting chat, etc.
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Community Moderator: The community moderator helps to make sure members adhere to group norms about safety and respect. The moderator monitors the room and the chat to guard against inappropriate or harmful language, audio, or video. They might encourage participation and may also be required to remove people who flagrantly or repeatedly violate the group’s rules.
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Acknowledger of Participation: The Acknowledger ensures that participants’ time and contributions to the group’s purpose, mission, and activities are recognized during the meeting. People who join your group want to feel included and valued and it can be helpful when things get lively and busy to have someone dedicated to acknowledging people’s time and contributions. This contributes to ongoing participation.
In addition to these roles, group members should be responsible for advancing the overall work of the group through roles such as agenda setting, discussion facilitation, record-keeping or note-taking, and time-keeping. Youth peer leaders and youth can powerfully contribute in all of these roles.
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Youth peer leaders and youth can powerfully contribute in all of these roles.
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#3: Discuss rules and safety plans.
Every group needs to have a small set of rules and standard expectations of the group’s goals, purpose, and reason for existence. Members of the online space should be included in creating the group rules and feel comfortable seeking the moderator’s assistance when needed. Support youth in understanding how to talk about their lived experience (e.g., privacy settings, considering how posts may become public). Group rules and ways of conducting business should be open for discussion and possible revisions, if needed.
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#4: Ensure cyber safety.
When you are working with those under 18, it is important to consider their privacy and how to protect it, especially in situations where youth may be discussing their lived experiences, system involvement, or familial relationships. Consider hosting closed meetings and communicating with young people outside of group meeting times when appropriate. Connect with parents, caregivers, or guardians when appropriate, and help youth understand when that might be necessary. You can take a role in educating young people on how to better protect themselves online--from the information they share about themselves, to their pictures, to location-related concerns. These resources can be helpful in this conversation, sorted by age range:
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#5: Include FUN in your online communities!
There are a number of online multi-player games that can help break the ice and bring additional fun to your online community. Make sure the games are appropriate for the age of young people attending and can be accessed across desktop and mobile devices. Here are a few you can look at.
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RESOURCES
Skribbl.io (https://skribbl.io) offers multiple players the opportunity to play an online drawing game similar to Pictionary. Up to 12 players can play in each of the private rooms.
Spyfall (https://www.spyfall.app) offers the opportunity for 3-8 players to play against each other in each game. In this strategy game, each player receives a card representing the same location, except one player who receives a “spy” card. The spy asks and answers questions to guess the location, while other players’ goal is to ask and answer questions to trip up and identify the spy.
Scattergories (https://scattergoriesonline.net) offers players the opportunity to score points by uniquely naming objects within a set of categories, given an initial letter, within a time limit.
Telestrations (https://www.brokenpicturephone.com) offers an engaging, often hilarious, way for multiple players create books of drawings and phrases, one page at a time, only being able to see previous pages before viewing the full book together.
Bingo (https://bingobaker.com) lets groups customize Bingo cards and generate individual online cards for your own gathering or meeting.
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Virtual meeting spaces can offer great opportunities to build successful System of Care teams, support young people, and provide opportunities to socialize. Remember to plan in partnership with young people, identify your platform, designate the roles and responsibilities you need, develop your group norms or rules, and have fun! |
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Contact the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for
Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health
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This announcement is supported by SAMHSA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award over five years (2020-2025) with 100 percent funded by SAMHSA/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by SAMHSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government. |
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