When volunteering as an online friend, just like in other friendship activities, it is important to adhere to the established guidelines and take care of your own well-being.

Remember your role as a volunteer online friend

Volunteers act with the skills of an ordinary person. It is important to keep this in mind while being an online friend. Listening, encouraging, and showing interest are some of the key tasks of a volunteer. You do not need to solve your friend’s problems, and you can openly say that you are not a professional helper or that you do not know how to handle the situation. However, you can encourage your friend to seek support if needed.

Remember to manage your time

In online friendship activities, which are location-independent and conducted through communication apps, managing your time can become a burden. It is up to the volunteer to define how often and how much they want to be reachable. It is advisable for the online friend pair to agree in their initial messages on when and how often they would like to communicate.

Some volunteers have found it helpful to limit their volunteer commitment by using a communication app for online friendship that they do not use in their daily lives. By turning off notifications, you can control how often you are reachable. However, experiences so far have shown that time management has not been a significant burden for volunteers in online friendship activities.

You can also set boundaries on discussion topics

Many of our client friends report that discussing everyday matters is an important part of online friendship. However, some discussion topics may be overwhelming for the volunteer. Sensitive topics could include a friend's mental health challenges or traumatic experiences, such as being a victim of violence or other crimes. Such difficult subjects should be handled by professionals, and you can encourage your friend to seek professional help. You also have the right to decide if a friendship is becoming too burdensome. The online friendship coordination team will seek a new online friend for the client if possible.

In matters where it is challenging for the volunteer to take a stance according to their own values or the principles of the Red Cross, they can focus on listening. Difficult discussion topics could include religion, ideologies, politics, and news related to war and violence. The volunteer can also encourage their friend to talk about neutral or lighthearted topics.

Coordination team and Peer support

If you have any concerns regarding online friendship, do not hesitate to reach out to the online friend activities´s team. You can contact the volunteer friend coordinators via email at: verkkoystava@redcross.fi. You can also seek advice from other online friends in the OMA Red Cross virtual group named "Online friend activities." Additionally, you can participate in mood discussions organized via Teams, which are designed for online volunteers. They are mainly arranged in Finnish but they can be arranged in English as well.

Spring 2025 Mood Discussions in English

• Defusing for online volunteers in English 24.4. at 5 pm (accommodates 20 first registrants)

Spring 2025 Mood discussions and training webinars in Finnish

• Fiiliskeskustelu in Finnish 12.2. klo 17-18.30 (accommodates 20 first registrants)
• Fiiliskeskustelu in Finnish 5.3. klo 17-18.30 (accommodates 20 first registrants)
• Koulutusilta: Aktivoiminen ja voimauttaminen verkkovapaaehtoisena 30.1. klo 17-18.30
• Koulutusilta: Suru ja sureminen to 20.3. klo 17-18.30

Online helper at the Finnish Red Cross Self-study material

Online Helper at the Finnish Red Cross self-study course contains many practical tips for online interactions. If you do not yet have access to the training material, please check the instructions in OMA Red Cross.