Probably for the same reason I hesitated to drink in the same town in which I taught, I am hyper-aware of my social media presence. As I acquire a social media account, I try to identify a purpose early on and let that dictate the audience I follow.
Social media changes quickly, and I find that I change slowly. So allow me to walk you through my current accounts, who I follow, and intended uses and help me make sense of if I am “doing it right.”
Social media changes quickly, and I change slowly. Am I “Doing It Right?”
The account I guard most carefully is my Twitter account. With over 20K tweets since 2009, I use this almost exclusively for professional development and sharing my educational blogging. When I have been asked to use it for other purposes I am extremely uncomfortable. I feel like I need to protect the account as a professional account over all my other social media accounts.
I have over 2,700 followers and I follow nearly as many. In this account I want to follow educators, one which I can learn from typically. However, I make an effort to follow (or at least add to a list for) teachers from my district.
I think I will continue to guard who I follow on Twitter closer than other social medias.
This account was mostly personal until this month. This is where I would share
I follow family and friends, especially from far away. I also follow people with the same interests as me – my kid’s sports families. Recently however, I upped my blogging presence on FB. I made a page for my blog, no use rushing into it, probably a good idea to wait 7 years (haha). And I have joined Facebook groups for blogging activity. This is a reach for me and pulls me into Facebook further than before; I am still evaluating this to see if the results for growth of my blog is worth more time on Facebook.
This account is the account in the most flux for me right now. Instagram started out personal, but after hearing Tony Vincent talk about Instagram for Teachers I have changed my mind. I now alternate between personal and educational posts. While I try and figure out the bajillion hashtags for teachers on Instagram.
I am still building my Insta audience, feel free to follow me. I follow a random mix of people, usually I know them or they are teachers.
This account is a mix or personal and professional. I have always included pinning my blog posts with my personal pursuits on Pinterest. I tried a separate account for my work, but which petered out. Recently, I have bought into Tailwind and am now automating my pins. Tailwind also offers “tribes” where you essentially are encouraged to repin each other’s content in an intersecting interest. Tailwind offers a free trial, which I tried last Spring. I saw increased repinning with less effort on my part – and I felt less spamminess to my friends on Pinterest (it spreads your pins out over time). At that time I was not concentrating on growing my blog. So now that I am interested in growing my blog I am back to Tailwind, the Plus Plan. They have a free trial, but also take this $15 toward a paid subscription here if interested (affiliate link).
With Pinterest it matters even less who you follow. I follow a mix of educators, education or personal interest boards, and completely random people.
WordPress
I really like the completely long-form art of blogging. And I’m not awesome at it, but it soothes me. And what’s not to like about that?
This blog is completely dedicated to education. It is a self-hosted WordPress site, I’ve been trudging around here since 2010.
I first started with WordPress on a hosted platform, but quickly knew I wanted to move over. That hosted platform gave me the idea of blog-hopping however, which I still do today.
I follow a couple of people, like many more, via WordPress, but mostly use my other social media accounts to broadcast posts.
Sorry, I have no idea about this app. Feel free to educate me in the comments how you use it!
Well, Microsoft owns this, so I use it like it is 1989. It is my online resume.
I follow those I work with (including vendors), those who have interesting jobs in education, and those I might like to work with in the future.
Google Plus
Yes, I do use this! I use it with educator groups, some exclusively #edtech groups, and a couple of blogging groups. I post my new blog posts to it, but I don’t just browse as much as I should.
Tumblr
I experimented with this as a blog for my kids, but ultimately just keep a hobby blog which I use to mirror my WordPress blog.
I think of it as a sharing channel.
I follow a few educators, but mostly just broadcast to Tumblr.
The only thing certain about social media is that it will evolve.
I am hyper-aware of each social media account. As I acquire a social media account, I try to identify a purpose early on and let that dictate the audience I follow. I hope I am able to do the same going forward.
Have I missed any crucial social media in your view?
2018-01-01 at 4:44 pm
I actually went ahead and made a separate account for my Facebook. And I am probably the only person in the world who doesn’t use twitter. (besides my husband who doesn’t even have an IG account)
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2018-01-01 at 5:33 pm
This is a great overview of all the various social media platforms. Yes, evolution seems to be constant in the digital age!
2018-01-01 at 7:04 pm
I’m slowly learning how to use each social medium correctly. I don’t use Twitter personally, so it’s been tricky to use it for my blog in a way that feels natural. But, I’m having fun with Instagram and Pinterest!
2018-01-02 at 8:14 pm
I’m working on learning to use pinterest better. My favorite is instagram!
2018-01-07 at 3:43 am
Hi Penny,
I completely agree with you in the need to guard your social media presence. As teachers we need to be so conscious about what we post online.
Regarding Whatsapp…I am based in Hong Kong and Whatsapp is the primary mode of communication here on our phones (in lieu of texting). Basically, the app allows you to create groups, add voice notes, and make free calls (I find that feature useful when calling my family in Canada). It could be useful for educational purposes if you wanted to form discussion groups or plan for an upcoming event.
Thanks for sharing!
2018-01-07 at 7:57 am
Thanks Marisa. There is always something more to learn! It sounds like I would like WhatsApp as well!