Effective communication

Especially in digital youth work there are many channels and ways of communication that are used to send and receive messages. Basic theories help explore three elements of communication: understanding, sharing, and meaning. Since all of them are very individualistic, confusions and misunderstandings can easily occur. Accidental and intentional (manipulative) distortion are not rare. During information flow, something can get lost or added. Thanks to knowledge from this field it’s easier to interpret (not only media) messages, be critical to information, and use it properly. Crucial question here is a source - to be able to prepare and deliver quality activities, youth workers need accurate data and information. They would typically rely on statistics, sociological research, and, mainly locally, direct consultations (interviews around key questions or focus groups for in-depth inquiry) with young people. Therefore, young people also need  to be empowered to work with information and data and to be resistant to misinformation.