Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Oh My!
Facebook has the greatest reach of any social media platform and it shows with the wealth of content that is available. I took a look at 2 different libraries pages to see what they are doing to help showcase the cool things that are happening in their spaces.
The first one is Benignus Library in Klein ISD in Texas and this one is fairly simple in its use of promoting the library. The librarian does a good job with the nuts and bolts and telling the school community what is happening on campus and specifically reading challenges and things that the students can be doing over the summer. This one is up to date which can't be said for a lot of them that I was searching for. https://www.facebook.com/benignuslibrary
The 2nd library is actually a Facebook page for the entire district showcasing all the cool things that the schools are doing as well as the conferences and reading challenges that are happening throughout the summer and school year. They showed that reading happens across all campuses and they even highlighted kids that had won contests throughout the year. You can tell that the person running this page knows how to keep content fresh and updated with exciting things that happen around the district.
Twitter is the next social media site that is coming back around in popularity. Twitter has always ebbed and flowed for me and I find that I prefer Facebook as my go to place to learn about the trends in education with a sprinkle of TikTok thrown in as well. The 5 people that I looked through their twitter feeds were:
Kathy Schrock | @kathyschrock |
K.C. the School Librarian of Wakanda | @Boss_Librarian |
Shannon McClintock Miller | @shannonmmiller |
Gwyneth Jones | @GwynethJones |
Jim Lerman | @jimlerman |
Kathy Schrock spends a lot of time on all things education as well as technology. She has several links for products that she has bought as well as reviews for different apps and websites that she has tried out. Her feed isn't flashy but she does a good job of curating her content for people to find what they need.
K.C. the school librarian definitely keeps her twitter feed up to date with her personal thoughts, reactions, and feelings as well as the cool conferences and collaboration that she is a part of. I found her twitter feed to be very entertaining as well as informative so she does a good job balancing each part.
Shannon Miller has more of a focus on literacy and how technology can impact that in a positive way. Many of her posts focused on the next book she wants to add to the collection.
Gwyneth Jones is a train of thought twitter user who uses her platform to not only bring news about education, technology, and libraries but also personal beliefs and things that she enjoys watching and reading. The more I dug into her feed, the more I found that I wasn't finding the information that I would want but it was entertaining at least. I found an article about book banning that was enlightening.
Jim Lerman was the most concise and to the point with his twitter feed as he is very into AI right now and there wasn't anything extraneous on his feed other than a general tweet or 2. I really liked his style but I know that the time spent curating this feed is a lot as he clearly puts thought behind everything that he shares.
The last frontier is Instagram. I deleted my instagram account as I was tired of all the ads that were popping up when I was scrolling plus all the education topics that I was interested in as a 5th grade teacher were becoming way too cutesy and artsy for me. There are many cool ideas that you can find but sorting through them takes more time than I am willing to take out of my day. This video by librarianinthemiddle was an interesting take on why ChatGPT isn't good for making booklists.
When I was searching through instagram, I found someone that I wouldn't ever have looked for which was interesting. The islamicschoollibrarian had some great posts about authors and books that I wouldn't have researched without her which helped broaden my experiences with literature that I wouldn't necessarily choose.
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| This book is called Rani's Remarkable Day and it is a touch of Fancy Nancy with some Sophia the First thrown in but with a girl of South Asian Descent |
There are many avenues and facets to social media and no one is going to become an expert at them all but something that I have learned is that if you stick with one and do it well, you can create a following that will allow you to influence the learners and readers that you come in contact with either digitally or in person.
social media has certainly changed how libraries interact with their audiences. It's interesting to see your perspective on different platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter each have their unique appeal and reach different audiences. I checked out the libraries' Facebook pages you mentioned, and it's great to see how they promote their spaces and engage with the community. As for Twitter, it's awesome to find educators like Kathy Schrock, K.C. the School Librarian, Shannon Miller, Gwyneth Jones, and Jim Lerman sharing valuable content and insights. Each has their own style, but it's impressive to see how they curate their feeds. As for Instagram, it's true that sorting through content can be time-consuming, but it's nice to discover accounts like islamicschoollibrarian that introduce you to new literature experiences. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and you're absolutely right – mastering one platform can make a significant impact on reaching and influencing learners and readers.
ReplyDeleteWow! I especially enjoyed reading your review about Facebook. I do think that would be the best platform for parents of our students. Instagram would be the best platform for students but also parents as well. It is so easy to create reels and fun short clips that draw viewers into the library. I love that librarians are paving the way already, especially K.C. The School Librarian, Shannon McClintock Miller and more. Very inspiring and something I'd like to get better at this year!
ReplyDelete_Ashlee
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI just went down a rabbit hole of your YouTube videos. 🤣 You did an amazing job and I can only imagine how much TIME and energy they took to make… and you made SO many!
Social media is definitely something that is always adapting and changing and we gotta get ahead on! I’m still a bit hesitant on this modules insistence on Facebook. I feel like the interaction counts are fairly low? What do you think?
Lacey
Hi Matt, I think Facebook does have a great reach as you said. I think it has more of a reach for teachers and educators. As far as reaching students, however, I find that my middle schoolers are mostly on snapchat, instagram, and twitter...in that order too. Although I know social media is important and we need to utilize it in the classroom, we also need to set some major boundaries with our students as it can become a major crisis within minutes.
ReplyDelete