Social Media – You can’t take it back

As we continue to move forward with advances in technology, the tools we use to communicate are creating an increasingly complex paradigm in our schools. As educators, we are professional communicators. So knowing that communicating is central to everything we do in school makes it crucial that we maintain an ongoing dialogue about the moral and ethical implications of social media engagement. We are educators 24/7, not just within the time constructs of the school day. When you write a post or tweet a comment, it must have forethought and clarity of context because once written, it can’t be taken back. One misinterpreted comment or post can cause irreparable damage to your professional life.

Social media has become a mechanism that can easily blur the line between personal and private life. If we want to lead the way as a school on the forefront of technology, then we must also lead the charge in educating everyone on the proper use of our new tools. We are not talking about platitudes of rhetoric and policy, but rather about the adult role modeling of what is acceptable and not acceptable in a school and professional context. We all agree that creating a policy of acceptable use is not necessarily the answer.

Social media is not going to disappear any time soon and we are not doing anyone justice by hiding our heads in the sand and avoiding it. In education, we spend a significant portion of time working with issues related to misinterpretation and communication. For some teachers, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that life would be much simpler without Facebook, Twitter, and/or other social media. The fear is the belief that Facebook or Twitter exposes them to risks beyond their control or makes their life too complicated. Is the solution to create dual accounts / personas? Creating one for your “professional self” and one for your “personal self”, making sure you’re able to moderate the personal account so that it doesn’t spill over into your professional life? If the choice is to use social media, then we must manage its complexities. This may not be the final solution, but it is a step in the right direction. We must be aware that Internet searchers are savvy and will always try to find ways to peek into our personal lives. When we tweet or post, we should be aware of contextual and cultural implications.

So, the conundrum continues – more complex than ever. We have committed to participating in the wide world of social media, but we are learning that the lines between our professional and personal identities can be blurred beyond recognition and that whatever we write, regardless of our current persona is out there. As promoters of cutting edge technology in education, we must lead the way in defining and modeling appropriate use of the tools within the context of our schools. 

Identify the stakeholders…     Trust the process…    Trust the people…      Edu-Bring…