Dissertation: Social Media Shapes Care and builds Empathy Through Communication (Levonius)

One of the most recent technological expansions in old age care is the use of social media as a tool for care. Vilja Levonius’s doctoral dissertation focuses on an old age care organisation where social media has become part of the everyday care environment, and related postings belong to the responsibilities of nurses alongside with their traditional care tasks. Thus, in between their daily chores The nurses post photos and videos about their work to the organisation’s social media channels.

“Posting to social media as part of your job is completely normal in many professions. And as a communications professional, it’s everyday practice for me. But seeing it as part of care work, performed by nurses, was new to me”, Levonius explains the starting points of her research.

The dissertation highlights empathy as a central value in care and explores it in relation to care practices and social media.

“In my research, I redefine empathy more broadly beyond the customary definition. Empathy emerges in interaction and is shaped situationally and culturally. It is not merely an emotion or spontaneous reaction, but an object of ongoing negotiation and collaboration constituted also through communication involving words, gestures, technologies, and organisational practices.”

Social Media Brings Visual aspects to daily care

The study also brings forward the performative role of empathy in constructing the organisation. Social media postings by nurses draw an empathetic picture of the organisation. A key finding is that care practices get adjusted to the logic of social media. Some nurses plan their daily activities to some degree with social media visibility in mind.

“This changes the way the daily routines are planned. Some nurses think, ‘this or that would look good in social media’. For example, if the sun is shining, they might decide to serve afternoon coffee outdoors “because it makes for so beautiful pictures”. The visual logic of social media as if steers the practices to the same direction we are used to see also elsewhere in social media, Levonius summarises.

Social media introduces a visual dimension to everyday care and places older people as objects of public gaze.

“The imagined audience of social media postings depends on the individual respondent. The interviews revealed that the postings are often made with family members, decision-makers, other care organisations, or even potential future clients’ families in mind. Some care practitioners also see it as their task to improve the public image of old age care and have a strong desire to share the positive sides of their work.”

Ethics calls for a participatory approach

The sensitive nature of the research context and the topic of old age care raise important ethical considerations. These include the privacy and autonomous visibility of people in a vulnerable position and the ethical challenges related to worktime allocation and social media practices in care work.

“Ethics became a central thread throughout my research. It emerged as such a critical theme that I had to reconsider my entire approach. In my dissertation, I reflect on a shift toward an ethnographically appropriate, relational, and even empowering research ethics that views participants not as research subjects, but as co-researchers, says Levonius.

In practice, this meant involving the nurses in the meaning-making processes of the research. As part of the dissertation, a video reflection method called “Empatia” was developed to draw attention to appreciative encounters and learning from positive experiences.

"Empathy can be learnt both at an individual and organisational level"

“As the old saying goes, ‘Good news travels far”. Empathy can be learnt both at an individual and organisational level, and it can be explored by means of the method we developed. The entire dissertation serves as a kind of an example case on how ethical questions can be carried along throughout a research project, Levonius concludes.

Vilja Levonius’s doctoral dissertation “Care as Communication: Empathy and Organizing in Old Age Care” will be publicly defended on August 22, 2025, at noon in the Old Assembly Hall, room S212. The opponent is Associate Professor Kirstie McAllum (University of Canterbury), and the custos is Professor Anu Sivunen (University of Jyväskylä). The event will be held in English, with the lectio in Finnish. 

Remote access to the event:  https://r.jyu.fi/vaitos-levonius220825 

About the Researcher

Vilja Levonius is a communications specialist and researcher with a particular interest in empathy, ethics, and interaction in working life. She completed her Master’s degree in Social Sciences, the Communications study line, in 2011 at the University of Helsinki, . and has made a nearly twenty-year-long career in various experts posts in the field of communications. She works currently as a researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, exploring work, care, and technology from new perspectives.

Further information:vilja.levonius@ttl.fi, Phone: +358 45 644 6664