Social Media for High School Educators

Media Social

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“ Everyone needs to do social media!”

It’s all over the news. It must be important.

WHY?

I don’t care what you’re eating for breakfast.

Or how late you stayed up last night …

Or if you’re feeling slightly emo today …

But …

I might care about news that interests you.

… OK. I might care if you’re feeling emo.

Social media is an umbrella term that defines various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.

Original definition from Wikipedia, pulled from Slideshare presentation from Marta Kagan, pulled off Tom Cheredar’s blog, e-mailed to him by Jack Lail, dated 2008.

Social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content.

Wikipedia, 2009

Wait … I just used Wikipedia as a source.

There is no real definition for social media.

It evolves every day.

And for the record … there are no ‘experts’.

There are

Community developers.

Conversation starters.

Social engagers.

Community developers start conversations through different platforms.

It’s about maintaining a ‘digital identity’ .

EXAMPLE:

People are reporting events before news organizations.

Information is communicated at a lightning-fast pace.

It spreads .

How fast?

5 minutes later …

10 minutes later …

You get the point.

While you were sleeping, the paper was sent to the printer, the newscast complete … the world was still keepin’ on.

Social networks =

hand-selected news

It’s like having a bajillion editors at your disposal.

Less sense of

organizational bias

News is a social event ! People talk to friends to get their information. Conversation creates a ripple effect - becomes viral. Friends become a filter to what’s important.

‘ How might we’ Communicate to the student body? Encourage conversations? Translate the experience of students? Develop a community? Be aware of what interests the community? Create a better product? Speak to a larger group of people?

But …

News organization still play a role. They can verify a source and eliminate rumor-monger.

Don’t just start ‘tweeting’ … ask what’s effective to engage your community.

There’s a ton of options to choose from!

But if you use Twitter:

News and information in 140 characters or less Get tips from your audience about what’s happening outside of the newsroom Know the topics that drive your community; which are constantly changing Have a conversation with your audience Weather-related closings, alerts, updates to papers, etc.

If you use Facebook:

Help schools coordinate reunions, Maintain updates Collect past and current student information Talk about special, upcoming events Post photo galleries and sync up to Flickr

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