Who does social media actually reach and inform? Well anyone that has a phone pretty much has access to social media, so in theory, it is a great tool to use to reach more users. So is social media something that should be incorporated into the library for a school? Personally, I feel that it should because I think you could reach even more users in your community through the multitude of social media options that most people use.
I skimmed several local ones plus some in other states. Most highlighted posts to the public about summer reading programs they offer or they are promoting to help keep students engaged and active readers through the summer months. Throughout the school year, scrolling back posts, they focused on posting events happening in the library ranging from book challenge activities, Donors Choose projects to get the public to help build the library collection more, to highlighting the Sora app that a lot of libraries are using, and much more. One thing that really stuck out was that they are not updated regularly. Most of the ones I skimmed through had a lot of postings during the time that everyone was doing "online learning," but then not many posts at all this past school year.
There were a few libraries that actually posted pictures of students engaged in learning while in the library. It was neat to see some of the flexible seating options within these libraries. I found too many of these to pick which one to share in particular, but it was neat to see how everyone has their seating arrangements in their libraries. One post that really caught my eye was a "Bookmobile" that would operate during the summer to keep kids reading. (BPESLibrary) This was a great way to reach out to the public to let them know. On one of my local school's library Facebook pages, they showed a video of a new 3-D printer that was just gifted to them and how it worked. (VidorHSLibrary) That was neat to see and I think they could promote it more by having students interact with the printer while they do an updated video. It was good to see that not only are libraries all about books but there is so much more offered within those walls. While there were not many comments, most posts on these pages did have "likes" which shows me that it is reaching users, but how many are actually interacting with it versus just clicking a like button. Maybe the library could pose questions that would generate comments and responses.
A few advantages of using Facebook are the number of users that it can reach. Out of the current trendy social media aspects, this one has been around the longest. It is super easy to use and Facebook users have the option to mark the page as a priority meaning it will show up on their feed first. This is great for those that really want to be involved in the library.
A few disadvantages that stick out with using Facebook, is the user age requirement. Elementary librarians would need to work a bit harder to get parents and the community on board with their Facebook page as their students would not be old enough to have an account to see what is being posted. Another disadvantage is that there are so many businesses that use Facebook now, that sometimes posts can get "lost" in a user's stream.
I do not think Facebook's popularity is going away but it has shifted a bit with Tik Tok being the new front runner; however, I still feel like it is a great way to reach the community and promote all things that are happening in the library. I did start up a page, which is completely bare as I'm not in the library yet, but I have it ready to go as soon as I am in that spot. Feel free to follow and hopefully in the near future I can rename it to match the school I will be working at. https://www.facebook.com/Keeping-Literature-Lit
Twitter is hard for me personally. I set up an account years ago for professional development once to try to win prizes and then really never touched it again until one of our local libraries had a reading contest. I have started playing around with it and exploring people to follow.
My first person to explore was Kathy Schrock and I'm not going to lie, my first thought was "Oh my, this person hasn't posted since 2020!" Until I quickly realized I was looking at a pinned tweet. Clearly, I still have some learning to do on Twitter, but hey I'm an education professional, so my learning never stops! I have used FlipGrid for years and did not know that I could do this! It was neat to watch what Ms. Schrock shared about how to use this Anchor app to make it an audio file to start a classroom PodCast!
Next up, I searched through Linda Braun's Twitter feed and immediately noticed that she likes to "retweet" information. One particular retweet that stood out to me was an article about how COVID has affected libraries across the world. One issue I do have with this is after clicking on the article on her feed, it takes me to their main feed, and then I still have to click the article again by highlighting the link and putting it in the toolbar. This is a bit time-consuming when you just want to view the article. After having to end up typing in the URL because you cannot copy from an image, it was an interesting read because you really only heard about issues in the classroom during the online learning time. Here is a link to follow Linda Braun @lbraun2000.
A few other notable individuals to follow are Alan November, The Daring Librarian, and Jim Lerman, as they each play a key aspect in promoting new digital technology for educational purposes. While Alan's were a bit older on the posting side, they are still relevant to today. Most of his tweets are about how students need help to progress in research in the classroom. It appears he did quite a few web professional development courses for educators. He hasn't posted since 2019, but still some great tweets to glance through @NLearning. Gwyneth Jones (The Daring Librarian) has amazing tweets that range from articles about the rise of gun violence in communities to ways to help promote being an Ally for the LGTQB+ community. I absolutely loved that she creates items and lets you have them for free. One of her most recent items was the "Ticket to Ride" freebie printables! So neat to share what she has created to make life a little bit easier. See for yourself by checking out her account on Twitter, The Daring Librarian. Now Jim Lerman's tweets mainly focus on the technology side of education; however, he does also share some top lists about different genre groups, so he gives you a variety on his feed. Make sure to check him out @jimlerman.
Not only are there really good individuals to follow and read through on tweets, but a lot of professional organizations as well that pertain to education and the library. Before you wander too far, feel free to follow me on Twitter as I attempt to become a more active user on this platform. @jbertrand6th
While I've had a personal Instagram for years and a classroom one for a few years, I decided to start a brand new account dedicated to books and the library. I spent some time taking screenshots from my personal Instagram of book reviews I did one year for a contest through our school and added them. I moved away from Instagram over the past few years as I feel like not many were really using it as much thanks to Tik Tok; however, I would like to get back into posting reviews on there for my students to see. While I use Good Reads, I do not necessarily share that with my students, but I would feel good about sharing Instagram with them.
Using the highlight function of Instagram would be useful in the classroom or library by allowing students and yourself to promote new literature. Maybe you just got some new books to add to the library shelves and you want to highlight them first. This is an easy and fun way to do a quick video (highlight) of the new material and it would stay located right below your profile for easy access. I am still working on mine, but have already set up a highlight for some Graphic Novels that I've read this year and plan to set up a highlight for each genre as time allows. I really like how the highlights stay right below the profile for quick access.
One huge benefit of using Instagram would be to work with incentive programs. My local high school did this, which is why I had originally started the reviews, to help promote students to read more. It was fun skimming through the high school's Instagram, seeing other reviews, and getting more books added to my "to read" list. There are so many apps that allow you to make pictures fun and engaging before you even post to share, this would be an appeal to the teenage group for sure. For example, I tried a few apps for my Android and found one that would let me add text and clipart to a picture before sharing. I love how you can really personalize pictures before you share them to your feed, students would have fun with this for sure.
Link to my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keepingliteraturelit/
Conclusion
References:
10 THINGS STUDENTS WISH YOU KNEW ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA. (2022, January 14). [web log]. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://thesocialinstitute.com/blog/10-things-students-wish-you-knew-about-social-media/.
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I really enjoyed your blog. It seems that after working on the different media for multiple days you were saying what I was thinking many of the times. I noticed that Twitter and Facebook were more geared toward adults and yes, I found the big libraries like the New York Public Library made use of their media to promote not only library topics but the arts as well. I think after looking closer at some of the pictures I can see why there should be an age limit. But does this defeat the purpose? Who are we posting for? The community? Parents? - you are right many students would not be of legal age to use the platforms. I like how comfortable you are using Instagram with your class; it was most difficult for me to navigate. I will make it a goal to work a little more with it.
ReplyDeleteFacebook does have the disadvantage of the age requirement which can limit students under that age limit (specifically elementary students). Businesses also can make the user's stream really busy and the library's posting can get lost in that as well. It's still beneficial for parents and community members to use it more often for events and news. Pinned tweets are amazing for keeping a specific link connected to your profile without getting lost among the hundreds of tweets one might post, I highly recommend the pinned tweet feature if you want to practice using Twitter. The highlight feature on Instagram is great for showing off new titles or recent additions to the library, I agree with how easy it is to use and I love the visual appeal it has. I like that you're using Instagram in your classroom for your students, it's incredible to show how you can connect social media to their learning. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou really put a lot of thought and research into this post, and you have shared some great information! Personally I lean more towards Facebook just because I use it more in my personal life, but you are right that it's not the best to reach students, but rather more for their parents. I am not as familiar with Instagram, but you have made a convincing argument to give it another try. I really like your idea of using it with an incentive program and having students post short book reviews.
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