This document provides 10 examples of how not to use social media in education, along with discussion questions. It outlines potential pitfalls like having incomplete profiles, posting irrelevant content, oversharing private details, and not interacting with audiences. A quiz matches each example to a famous horror film. The document advocates using social media to brand oneself professionally, post engaging relevant content regularly, and consider privacy and potential employers. It also discusses hashtags, responding to incidents, imagining how others may perceive posts, and geotagging location information.

1. Image available from Geek Peeks [Accessed March 2014].

2. Overview
• 10 examples (horror stories!) about how not to use
social media in education
• Small group discussions to share your own
experiences of using social media
• Plus a quiz: Each example will relate to a famous
horror movie. Name the film and the year it was
released!

3. 1. The Man Behind the Mask?
Incomplete profiles are
‘dehumanising’ and convey:
• Incompetence
• Inaccessible
• Laziness!
Consider:
• Branding
• Telling your audience a
little about yourself
Image by frogDNA available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

4. 2. “Keep to the path lads!”
Tweets and posts about irrelevant
subjects don’t engage your audience
• Have a plan
• Who is the audience?
• Post relevant and regularly
• Think carefully before merging
Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn, etc,
status updates
Image by Boogeyman13 available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

5. 3.“It’s Johnny!!”
• Strike a balance between not being
too invasive (over-sharing) and being
a ghost in the background
• Consider sites that produce analytics,
such as Sumall, to monitor the level of
interaction you have with your
audience
Image by Kultur Konditorei available Flickr on under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

6. 4. Don’t end up looking like a clown
with potential employers…
Do you need to clean up your
social media profiles?
http://bit.ly/1rFhz3h
• Consider privacy settings
• Make a range of social media
sites available to employers
• Digital footprint!
Image by Quicheisinsane available on Flickr under the
Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

7. A recent article in the Telegraph published the
results of a survey called The top 10 most
irritating social media updates
• “Cryptic status writers” came out on top,
followed by-
• “Game inviters”
• “Proud parents”
• “Self promoters”
5. In Social Media Space EVERYONE can hear
you scream….
Image by Erica available on Flickr under the Creative
Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

8. 6. The Hashtag (#) from Hell!
Image by Scurzuzu available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].
Susan Boyle’s PR people used
#susanalbumparty on Twitter to
launch her new album.
When choosing hashtags:-
• Shorter is better
• Make it something memorable
• Check that it’s unique

9. 7. Robotic Tweeter
If you just post out robotic
tweets and don’t interact with
your audience they’re likely to
terminate their contact with you!
● 4-1-1 rule
● @ reply and add your own
comments about other
tweets, retweet
Image by Ettore Bechis available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

10. 8. Dealing with Incidents
Incident or crisis?
Image by Kolektiv Smetnjak available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].
You know what
you look like to
me, with your good
bag and your
cheap shoes? You
look like a rube.Leve
l
Who? What?
1 Social Media team responds. Acknowledge, or thank, or answer query.
2 Social Media team respond,
but inform higher management
that they have done so.
Try to take situation out of the public domain. Suggest they
contact customer services (provide number).
3 Social Media team does not
respond, apart from
acknowledging the issue. They
escalate to senior
management to respond.
Acknowledge only. Do not apologise yet. Tell them what you
are doing. Allow time to think it through. Use the media they
used to respond. Once situation resolved, consider sharing
response publicly.
Crisis Social Media team alert senior
management who form a crisis
management team.
Refer straight to Senior Crisis Response Team. Let them
respond.

11. 9. Don’t post anything Mother wouldn’t like...
Imagine the ripple effect of the piece of
information you are about to share. Imagine
your mother, children, partner/spouse, boss
and any other relevant person knowing what
you are about to divulge. Imagine meeting
new people who posses the piece of
information you are about to disclose. Think
about that information in the public domain
today, and think about it in the public domain
decades from now.
Still OK with it?
The Huffington Post. Oversharing: Why Do We Do It and How Do We Stop? In-text: (The Huffington Post, 2014)
Bibliography: The Huffington Post. 2014. Oversharing: Why Do We Do It and How Do We Stop?. [online] Available at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/grown-and-flown/oversharing-why-do-we-do-it-and-how-do-we-stop_b_4378997.html
[Accessed: 3 Mar 2014].
Image by John Irving available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

12. 10. “I’m your number 1 fan”
Geotagging is increasingly
common on a range of social
media sites
Consider:-
• What location information you
share
• Who you share it with
Image by Karen Apricot available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence [Accessed April 2014].

13. Quiz Answers:
1. Halloween (1978)
2. American Werewolf in London (1981)
3. The Shining (1980)
4. IT (1990)
5. Alien (1979)
6. The Exorcist (1973)
7. Terminator (1984)
8. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Psycho (1960)
10.Misery (1990)

14. Quiz Sheet:
Name:__________________________________________
1. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
2. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
3. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
4. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
5. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
6. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
7. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
8. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
9. Film:.............................................................. Year of release:...............
10. Film:............................................................ Year of release:...............

15. References
• Edutopia. 2014. Social Media for Teachers: Guides, Resources and Ideas. [online] Available at:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-media-resources-educators-matt-
davis?utm_content=buffer280ef&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buf
fer [Accessed: 6 Mar 2014].
• Mashable. 2013. The Teacher's Guide to Social Media. [online] Available at:
http://mashable.com/2013/07/29/teachers-social-media/ [Accessed: 6 Mar 2014].
• Richmond, S. 2013. The top 10 most irritating social media updates - Telegraph. [online] Available
at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/9925114/The-top-10-most-irritating-social-
media-updates.html [Accessed: 6 Mar 2014].
• The Huffington Post. 2014. Oversharing: Why Do We Do It and How Do We Stop?. [online]
Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/grown-and-flown/oversharing-why-do-we-do-it-and-
how-do-we-stop_b_4378997.html [Accessed: 3 Mar 2014].
• Waldram, H. 2012. #Susanalbumparty: Top five Twitter hashtag PR disasters. [online] Available at:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2012/nov/22/twitter-susan-boyle-
susanalbumparty [Accessed: 7 Apr 2014].