Instagram, TikTok,...

Street workers swap parks for Instagram and co

Tristan Wörister is one of three online streamers from the I.S.I. association.(Bild: Horst Einöder/Flashpictures)

Instagram instead of the park, TikTok instead of the playground: three street workers have been working online in Upper Austria since the beginning of the year. The social workers reveal to "Krone" how they get in touch with young people, what is currently troubling teenagers and what they chat about.

A girl films herself crying, then posts the video on the internet platform TikTok, perhaps even talking about a mental illness. When Jacqueline Pühringer (39) sees something like this, she chats to the young people concerned, for example with: "Hello, do we know each other?" Or: "I'm an online social worker, you can talk to me about anything." The algorithm helps here, because the more contact you have with teenagers who are doing badly, the more of these videos are displayed.