Guidance services in virtual spaces an online ethnographic study of Facebook groups

Abstract

On Facebook, online social media groups make it possible to find and share health, educational, economic, and social-related information, as well as to discover social help by communicating with those that are dealing with the same problem or condition. Little is known about Guidance services provided with Facebook for emotional contact. The goal of this qualitative ethnographic study was to explore how guidance services are delivered in the virtual space via Facebook groups. The research questions focused on how people access guidance services on Facebook groups, why people access guidance services from Facebook groups, what forms of guidance services are accessed on Facebook groups and how effective are these services rendered on Facebook groups? A quota sampling technique was used, a semistructured online interview with four Popular Facebook groups named, Tell it All, Tell it Mum, Trotro Diaries and Abena Manokekame was used for the study, using 20 participants for the interview and 4 extracts from Facebook platforms, the data from the interviews were coded and categorized in inductive thematic analysis. The findings shows that all guidance services such as appraisals, consultations, information, placement, follow-up, orientation and referrals are provided on the various Facebook platforms. Also due to the number of comical postings and entertaining comments, virtual groups on Facebook use that as avenues to de-stress themselves when they are stressed out. Since majority of people who get access to these platforms were invited by friends and are also ready to recommend their platforms to others, then it means online guidance has come to stay, so, the researcher recommend that Ghana Psychological Association encourage its members to create such platforms using their members to assist people, Conveniently, people prefer seeking help from Facebook groups and due to that , The researcher recommend that , online and Face-to-face guidance services should go far to assist people irrespective of where they stay, in terms of providing assistance, professional counsellors should not narrow themselves to institutions such as churches and schools but should instead focus their efforts on the virtual community, as most people are now attached to social media.