THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY OF COUNSELOR SERVICES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Abstract

The phenomenon of adolescent mental health problems in Southeast Asia needs preventive and collaborative treatment. Social media as a socialization media has an influence on adolescent mental health. School counselors can educate adolescent through social media so they are careful about self-diagnosis. The purpose of this study is to discover the concept of the role of social media in increasing accessibility of school counselor services in the Southeast Asia region and identify challenges as well as opportunities for counselors in developing services. The method used in this study is a literature review of e-books and 26 journal articles. The analysis is done by comparing the ideas of each journal and then integrated to make new conclusions. The results of the study show that Instagram and Tiktok can be used by school counselors to provide preventive services. Through information services, Southeast Asian adolescents are educated on how to maintain mental health. Different cultural backgrounds in each Southeast Asian country can be a challenge to consider in designing content. Through social media, school counselors have the opportunity to collaborate with counselors from different countries in developing educational content that promotes support for adolescent mental health. Being in the era of advances in information technology, school counselors need to develop creativity in expanding the range of guidance and counseling services. Counselors can collaborate with counselors from various Southeast Asian countries in providing preventive services. The content topics that can be considered are emotional well-being and bullying prevention.

Keywords : social media, accesability, counselor services