R U connected? Engaging youth in designing a mobile application for facilitating community organizing and engagement

Abstract

Since the 1970s, neighborhoods have adopted various forms of digital technology to encourage community organizing and engagement, particularly through participatory platforms that allow residents to both consume and produce locally relevant information. With the growing popularity of digital and social applications, interest has grown in using digital technology to tackle the challenges facing local communities. Nationwide platforms such as the social networking site Nextdoor or the local news site EveryBlock have drawn considerable attention from the mass media and even local governments as platforms to communicate with and engage citizens. Digital technologies have also been utilized to increase civic engagement (Chen et al., 2012), and mobilize people to solve local issues (Farnham et al., 2015). Digital and social technologies can also foster community engagement, including increasing social capital and connections (Hampton & Wellman, 2003; Kavanaugh & Patterson, 2001). However, these positive outcomes have less frequently benefitted communities of color, particularly young people. Neighborhood mobile apps have sometimes caused harm through racial profiling. Residents in marginalized communities are also impacted by the digital divide (Nielson, 2006) and low-income youth face civic opportunity gaps (Conner & Slattery, 2014). The use of digital technology has also risen in social work, including websites, cell phones, and virtual reality programs designed to understand social problems and develop interventions (Chan & Holosko, 2016). The use of digital technology in assessment and intervention in direct social work practice has led to more targeted services, provided an opportunity for immediate feedback, and allowed social workers to serve individuals who were not previously able to access services (Bender et al., 2014; Berzin et al., 2015; Ramsey & Montgomery, 2014). Despite the promise of using digital technology to improve social work practice, there has been less emphasis on designing mobile and online technology for community social work interventions, particularly engaging youth (Chan & Holosko, 2016). In response, faculty,