Title:  Seeking financial assistance on social media: a sign of insufficient welfare?  Authors: Josefin Andersson and Emilia Cole  Background: Seeking financial assistance on social media seems to be increasing.  Purpose: To investigate who is asking for financial assistance on social media and why. We also look at how this new form of outreach differs from other types of charity. Finally we want to investigate how this can be understood in relation to the social services' mission and working methods. Theory: Stigma, categorization and social exclusion. Methods: Netnography and conventional content analysis with summative approach. Results: Families who receive financial assistance via Social Services, are sometimes unable to meet the basic needs in the form of food and clothing for their children. It has become accepted that it is not possible to achieve a reasonable standard of living on income support. We believe that parallel aid systems such as anonymous help via social media obscure this, which in the short term helps individuals with food on the table, but in the longer term can have major consequences for both individuals and the welfare system in general.  Keywords; families, poverty, social media, welfare system