Navigating social media: Its impact on the online and offline well-being of social workers in private practice
Lalache’ La’Beth Anthony, Robyn-Ann Coleman & William Shu Neba
Abstract
The study examined how social media impacts the online and offline well-being of social workers in private practice within the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Employing an exploratory research design within a qualitative research approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The Uses and Gratifications Theory served as the study’s theoretical framework, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that social media is not one of the primary causes of anxiety and depression; however, it can worsen these conditions among individuals who already experience them. Findings regarding the tools and techniques used by private practice social workers to support their well-being revealed that social media offers several benefits, including attracting new clients, strengthening relationships with existing clients, and providing psychosocial support to individuals in need. The findings further revealed that social media affects social workers’ ability to manage their well-being both online and offline, as creating content for social media marketing requires considerable creativity and time. The study implies that a secure, accessible, and affordable platform should be developed specifically for social work private practitioners to enable them to practice safely while limiting exposure to potential risks such as hacking and scamming.
Keywords
mental health, digital wellness, social media engagement, psychosocial well-being, social networking platforms, technology and well-being
Author information & Contribution
Lalache’ La’Beth Anthony. Corresponding author. PhD. Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus, 5700, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Email: shuwlly@yahoo.com
Robyn-Ann Coleman. Honours Graduate. University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus, 5700, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Email: anthonylalache@gmail.com
William Shu Neba. Lecturer, University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus, 5700, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Email: rcoleman@ufh.ac.za
"All authors equally contributed to the conception, design, preparation, data gathering, analysis, and writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved of the final manuscript."
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This work was not supported by any funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines set by the University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus. The conduct of this study has been approved and given relevant clearance(s) by the University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus, granting clearance or approval for the conduct of the data gathering involving human subjects.
Data and Materials Availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
AI Declaration
The authors declare the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in writing this paper. In particular, the author used Quillbot in paraphrasing ideas. The author takes full responsibility for ensuring proper review and editing of content generated using AI.
Notes
Acknowledgement
The researchers would like to sincerely thank all social workers who actively engaged in the execution of this study and who are involved in private business transactions on social media.
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Cite this article:
Anthony, L.L., Coleman, R. & Neba, W.S. (2026). Navigating social media: Its impact on the online and offline well-being of social workers in private practice. International Review of Social Sciences Research, 6(2), 204-226. https://doi.org/10.53378/irssr.353359
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