Internet and Social Networks: Reflecting on Contributions to Employability and Social Inclusion

Abstract

Today we live in a social network mediated by the Internet, a new socio-technological paradigm with an impact on lifestyles, increasingly virtual, stimulating new forms of sociability. Digital social networks offer new opportunities for sociability, but can also be tools that promote new forms of active job search, contributing to the strengthening of employability. They are also important for the social integration of people in a situation of unemployment, helping to avoid both the feeling of isolation and social exclusion. This text presents a reflection about the relationship between digital social networks, active job search and social inclusion. To this end, we also present the practical case of the Project “REviver na Rede” that enables to conclude that online social networks, as is the case of Facebook, are valid tools for the integration and socialization, fostering new forms of active job search, contributing to improve employability in contexts of unemployment, as well as the economic and social development of local communities.