Using the blog and media resources for the expansion of forms of communication and social engagement

• Main Authors: Carla Regina Silva, Isadora Cardinalli, Roseli Esquerdo Lopes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de São Carlos 2015-03-01
• Series: Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional
• Subjects: Blog/Media Resources; Social engagement; Social Occupational Therapy
• Online Access: http://www.cadernosdeterapiaocupacional.ufscar.br/index.php/cadernos/article/view/960

The present study analyzes of the use of media and interactive resources for the empowerment of individuals in vulnerable situations to expand their possibilities of communication and social participation, starting from the report of the experience of a university extension program, which proposed the development and use of a blog among other media resources, in workshops activities, Dynamics and Projects that integrate an intervention of social occupational therapy with the poor youth. This experience allowed the expansion of the repertoire of activities of the youth, promoting awareness of concepts, techniques and equipment, previously little available, accessible and used. The records of the contents of the blog were done in a participatory manner, generating reflection on roles and identities. Being and doing in virtual space allowed actions and real productions of adolescents and youths to be empowered when “virtualized”, providing a dimension that is not always possible to achieve in the “real” context. The blog posts resulted in a self-valorization of the population, creating places of belonging for particular social subjects, with the right to culture, communication and technology. Consequently, there was the empowerment of subjects, from the increasing social participation and achievement of the new media, which expanded their sociocultural boundaries. Moreover, it offered an expansion of the scope of resources for action on social occupational therapy, opening spaces, real and virtual, for collective experiences, for sociability and the understanding and transformation of meanings about life and about the reality in which we live.