Recently I’ve been reading and viewing a lot about the use of social media for business, for education, and for fun. I’ve been an avid social media user for personal and professional reasons for many years. In fact, next week I’m running a workshop about using social media to tell your school or district’s story. I continue to encourage my colleagues to use Twitter as a way to tell their professional story as well as to connect with other professionals for their own growth.
However, I often seen social media used for negative purposes: spamming people with products, self-promotion without interaction, and anonymous bashing of others. When we see these negative examples, it’s harder to convince new users to join or participate in the positive aspects of social media.
Despite the negativity, I will continue to encourage others to find their purpose within social media. For some people, one form of social media is an escape – a way to look at cute animals or silly videos for an easy laugh; this is Instagram for me. For others, social media is a way to stay connected to loved ones who are far away; this is Facebook for me. Some people use a social media tool to find motivation, to be healthy, or for DIY projects; this is Pinterest for me. Finally, some people use social media to learn, to grow as a professional, and to help the world at large see the amazing work we do as educators; this is Twitter for me.
If you use social media, I encourage you to share how and why you use it, and to make the positive outshine the negative. I also implore you to invite others into your SM journey! Please use the comment section below to share how you use Social Media.
Edited on 9/21/18: After I published this short, simple post expressing a few thoughts, I read a disturbing blog post. To read that a fellow educator and blogger has received death threats via anonymous comment son her blog was frightening. However, she didn’t let those threats scare her away from writing; she is letting that fuel her fire. One of the comments on that blog post references this Internet Pledge, which is a great resource. Let’s keep sharing resources and letting our positive outshine that negative.