Digital Technologies and Youth Work

Abstract

Within this chapter the authors explore the implications of ‘digital disruption' for key youth work concepts like friendship, relationship, trust, and community and how changing everyday understandings of these concepts can be, or should be, adopted into youth work theorisation and praxis. Secondly, the authors discuss Freirean critical dialogue and the development of critical consciousness, and how this is challenged by the targeted disinformation found in social media. We argue that micro-targeted disinformation has profound implications for the practice of critical pedagogy. Finally, the authors provide an overview of the opportunities presented by digital technologies, particularly when integrated with existing methods, and some examples of successful practice.