Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Social media presents itself as both a blessing and a curse. It connects people from all over the world and allows them to share experiences and learn they are not alone. But social media can also contribute to Impostor Syndrome - “the idea that you’ve only succeeded due to luck, and not because of your talent or qualifications” (Abrams). Social media has also been considered a factor in the rising numbers of depression. So why use it?

The various platforms allow brands to advertise and people to share skills in ways that have previously been impossible. Educators share classroom tips and tricks, libraries and publishing companies promote new titles to add to classrooms or for read aloud, and, most importantly, teachers cheer each other one or are there to listen when you’ve had a bad day.

The most well known platforms - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - all have pros and cons if you wish to use them for your library or to promote the goings-on in your classroom. Some are for more visual people while others are for those that don’t mind reading a little bit here and there. As a user of all three platforms in various ways, it was interesting to do a deeper dive. Here are my findings:

Facebook

Facebook, the over-thrower of MySpace, continues to have a rather large user-base. It’s fantastic with getting in touch with old friends or staying caught up in the lives of those that have moved far away. However, it falls flat with younger users. None of my sixth graders have a Facebook or care to get one in the near future. I’ve heard students say, multiple times, that Facebook is for “old people”. Thanks, kid. A lot of companies use Facebook to advertise their products or store, so it would make sense that Facebook could be used to promote a school library.

The first struggle was figuring out where to search between People and Pages. While Pages were recommended to search for, the results were few for actual school libraries. I did take a look at Pasadena High School’s library page, as well as Riverwood Middle School. PHS’s page promoted a DonorsChoose project but other than that, there weren’t a lot of shares or likes throughout the page. They did keep their events updated through.

Next I tried looking at People. This resulted in more options than before. Esparza Elementary School Library used this platform more than a lot of other libraries I found. They took pictures of different events and attempted to do video book talks in 2018 with students, uploading the videos to the Facebook page.

Ultimately, here is my takeaway from using Facebook:

Pros:

• Can keep parents and others in the community up to date on school/library events 
• One stop shop for library information such as address, phone number, hours, etc. 
• One of the most well known social media platforms. 

Cons:

• Not much visible community engagement (likes, shares, posts, etc.)
• Many libraries don’t appear to be updated often. 
• Users need to know the difference between Pages and People. Many libraries operate under either which can be confusing. 
• Usage is declining, especially among younger users which is who the library wants to reach out most to. 

Twitter

Ah, Twitter. Mine was created out of necessity for a college course. It laid dormant until I began teaching and then started using it as an educational tool. I started following other teachers at my campus and other schools. Now I share what I’m doing and follow others to find inspiration.

Jim Lerman (@jimlerman) primarily uses this platform to tweet about interesting articles related to edtech from his RSS feed, Scoop.it. Several of this tweets caught my eye, including this one:

Manage background video and audio with a Google extension

I am definitely one of those people that have too many tabs open at at time. This extension would certainly help when I need to show a video or just stop the music for whatever reason.

Another post he made referred to starting a blog in the classroom. The link took you to a post made by Richard Byrne that included a link to a Google document titled A Mostly Complete Guide to Classroom Blogging. The document gives tips on how to start a blog, what to use, and assignments that could be given through blogging.

Alan November (@globalearner) tweeted about the importance of web literacy. A difference between web literacy and digital literacy exist. If students are unable to use websites to their benefit then what is the point of providing them with technology to use? Many of our students are becoming used to using apps instead of actual websites, and they cannot search because they don’t know how to use keywords. My sixth graders are reaffirming this knowledge by typing full questions onto the database search engine instead of keywords that might help them find what they are looking for.

And Linda W. Braun (@lbraun2000) pointed out in a retweet from Rene Hobbs that only introducing educators to digital apps and tools during a professional development is not digital literary. Educators need to have a guide in what they can accomplish with the different apps or tools presented, whether it is in a step-by-step guide or a video showing content. Some people are uncomfortable with just “messing around” on an app and figuring things out for themselves.

I also took it upon myself to search the hashtag #digiuri because I had no clue what it stood for. The University of Rhode Island offers a summer institute focused on edtech for educators.


Here are my takeaways for Twitter:

• It’s a great way to show off what is happening in your library or classroom
• It connects teachers from all over between being able to retweet, reply, or participate in educator chats that happen at least once a month or so. 
• Librarians and teachers are able to share ideas and try them out in their own classrooms
• It’s easier than ever to stay caught up with authors. Many popular authors use Twitter and share their writing process, good and bad, which can be used to show students that the books in their hands were created by real people. 
• Retweets and replies can be easily lost in the shuffle
• Hashtags help keep thoughts and ideas organized 

Instagram

I adore Instagram. I added it on a whim the summer before I started teaching. It began as an educator account, but I slowly began adding some more personal pictures. Every summer it starts off with my summer reads and then tapers off. I have gotten so many ideas from the people I follow on Instagram. From podcast assignments that I haven’t done, to first day of school and back from break activities, to how I do my pencil check out system and to have a legit doorbell as my attention-getter, I’ve learned so much from Instagram alone.

This past summer, I even created my own Instagram template for students to use as a hyperdoc or to print out and have students fill in. And I’m pretty proud of it. 

To me, Instagram feels like one of the better options to promote the library with. It gives an easy visual for all students between the videos and stories you can post. The school library can have a section for book talks, cool tech tools, and more for students to refer to. On stories there is a voting option that students can interact with. Instagram can also be a place for the school librarian to get ideas for how to organize their library and items to add to their collection.

Follow me @readingthrough6thgrade

Final Thoughts

When I have my own library I plan to advertise with both Twitter and Instagram. My students parents may be more likely to use Twitter, and my students will definitely be more likely to use Instagram. With the administrations permission, I may also use the app Tik Tok to engage my students. Like it or not, Tik Tok has blown up with young adult audiences. If the school library participates in some of the appropriate trends then it may receive a lot of student buy-in. And students can help make videos as well, just as they might do with an Instagram account.





Abrams, A. (2018, June 20). Yes, Impostor Syndrome is Real: Here's How to Deal With It.
Retrieved from https://time.com/5312483/how-to-deal-with-impostor-syndrome/