When social media became a "thing", businesses were one of the first entities to jump on board. Many companies realized that social media created an essentially free way to advertise. As social media developed, targeted marketing using social media became an even more effective way to communicate and advertise with specific consumer bases. Educational entities eventually got on board as well. What does this have to do with your library? Plenty. Let's take a look at most popular social media platforms - Facebook and Twitter, and how they are being used by libraries to promote and communicate with their clients as well as help educate and connect library staff members worldwide. Stay tuned for a future post on the social media platform that is ahead of Twitter in teen use, Instagram.
Facebook
The brain child of Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard classmates, Facebook was created in 2004 as a way for college students to connect online. Myspace, a Facebook predecessor, had already tested the waters for social media and proved it was a viable model. Once Facebook was opened up to public access in 2006, it took off. Today, Facebook is used by more than a million users worldwide.
School librarians who are using Facebook post pictures and fliers to promote events and communicate with students and parents. Successful library Facebook pages are updated often in order to keep their posts and page relevant.
For example, Patlan Elementary in Seguin, TX uses their library Facebook page to advertise upcoming events and let the public know about grants, student activities and fundraisers. Other schools, like Bucyrus Elementary in Bucyrus, Ohio, include library memes and student achievements in their Facebook posts.
Both of these schools use Facebook often and effectively to connect with Facebook users. The benefits to using Facebook include the ability to post multiple types of media quickly and reach targeted Facebook users who would be best served by this type of communication. Facebook is very intuitive to use and it takes very little time to get a Facebook page up and running. In addition, you can connect several social media platforms to Facebook. For example, you can set it up so that your Twitter posts are also automatically posted to Facebook. Facebook includes apps for Apple and Android devices, meaning that library events can be live posted. Live posting is when you post pictures and text regarding an event as it is happening, updating often.
Facebook does have its limitations, however. Facebook is a publicly traded commodity. Their main goal is to make money. Therefore, pages have a limit as to how much reach they can provide without paying extra fees. While school libraries are not necessarily looking to advertise widely, these limitations also mean that sometimes library posts that are not promoted will not be seen on their followers feeds. To combat this, school libraries need to promote their Facebook page when communicating in other ways with parents and students, so that those parents and students know to follow the Facebook page. Printing QR codes with links to the Facebook page and including them on letters home and on fliers in the library or the school foyer can help promote a school's Facebook page. In addition, including a link to the Facebook page on the school's main website or the library's website is also an excellent way to connect your parents and students to your social media.
In building and maintaining a Facebook page, libraries will want to consider who they are primarily trying to reach. While Facebook is still very well used, many children and teens are branching out to use Instagram or Twitter. However, many parents use Facebook exclusively. A Pew research study showed that despite its age, Facebook is still the king in social media for teens aged 13-17. However, in some areas of the country teens are using Instagram or Twitter over Facebook. A poll on your library website or having visiting classes take a poll as to what social media they most often use may help you develop a plan for using social media to communicate with students.
Twitter
One of the main differences between the use of Facebook and Twitter in education in general as well as with libraries is that Twitter is often used not only as a communication tool between program/facility and users, but also as a networking and learning tool for staff. This relationship and use is not limited only to libraries, but is used by just about every academic subject. Of course, the information and education technology fields have embraced this use of Twitter.
Experts in the field of ed tech like Kathy Schrock use Twitter to point their followers in the direction of interesting topics for discussion, resources, address questions followers may have, announce upcoming talks or appearances and share their thoughts on advances in their field. For example, earlier this week, Schrock tweeted the following tweet of a really great Responsible Use graphic created by a student in her class. Now, her followers can see an example of a polished and teen friendly document and follow the person who created it, who will likely be doing other quality work in the future. Thus organic networking happens.
I've also found while studying the twitter feeds of experts in ed tech that changing the way people think about education, about how to teach and about the growing use of technology in education is a prominent theme.
Here's the sum up - if you haven't been using social media to communicate with your students and your parents, you are missing out on a great chance to create advocates for your library, get students excited about what they're doing in that space and advertise for future events. You are also missing out on a huge professional development treasure trove that is less time consuming and more focused and purpose driven than sitting in most traditional professional development sessions. Plus, our peers are funny people and their twitter feeds reflect that. Get in on that action!
Here are some people you should be following:
@jenniferlagarde - Jennifer LeGarde aka Library Girl
@kathyschrock - Kathy Schrock
@lbraun2000 - Linda Braun
@buffyjhamilton - Buffy Hamilton
@GwynethJones - Gwyneth Jones aka The Daring Librarian
@jimlerman - Jim Lerman
Then take some times to read through their feeds and start following some of their followers. The next thing you know, you'll have a huge cadre of people to learn from and share with!
The brain child of Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard classmates, Facebook was created in 2004 as a way for college students to connect online. Myspace, a Facebook predecessor, had already tested the waters for social media and proved it was a viable model. Once Facebook was opened up to public access in 2006, it took off. Today, Facebook is used by more than a million users worldwide.
School librarians who are using Facebook post pictures and fliers to promote events and communicate with students and parents. Successful library Facebook pages are updated often in order to keep their posts and page relevant.
For example, Patlan Elementary in Seguin, TX uses their library Facebook page to advertise upcoming events and let the public know about grants, student activities and fundraisers. Other schools, like Bucyrus Elementary in Bucyrus, Ohio, include library memes and student achievements in their Facebook posts.
Both of these schools use Facebook often and effectively to connect with Facebook users. The benefits to using Facebook include the ability to post multiple types of media quickly and reach targeted Facebook users who would be best served by this type of communication. Facebook is very intuitive to use and it takes very little time to get a Facebook page up and running. In addition, you can connect several social media platforms to Facebook. For example, you can set it up so that your Twitter posts are also automatically posted to Facebook. Facebook includes apps for Apple and Android devices, meaning that library events can be live posted. Live posting is when you post pictures and text regarding an event as it is happening, updating often.
Facebook does have its limitations, however. Facebook is a publicly traded commodity. Their main goal is to make money. Therefore, pages have a limit as to how much reach they can provide without paying extra fees. While school libraries are not necessarily looking to advertise widely, these limitations also mean that sometimes library posts that are not promoted will not be seen on their followers feeds. To combat this, school libraries need to promote their Facebook page when communicating in other ways with parents and students, so that those parents and students know to follow the Facebook page. Printing QR codes with links to the Facebook page and including them on letters home and on fliers in the library or the school foyer can help promote a school's Facebook page. In addition, including a link to the Facebook page on the school's main website or the library's website is also an excellent way to connect your parents and students to your social media.
In building and maintaining a Facebook page, libraries will want to consider who they are primarily trying to reach. While Facebook is still very well used, many children and teens are branching out to use Instagram or Twitter. However, many parents use Facebook exclusively. A Pew research study showed that despite its age, Facebook is still the king in social media for teens aged 13-17. However, in some areas of the country teens are using Instagram or Twitter over Facebook. A poll on your library website or having visiting classes take a poll as to what social media they most often use may help you develop a plan for using social media to communicate with students.
One of the main differences between the use of Facebook and Twitter in education in general as well as with libraries is that Twitter is often used not only as a communication tool between program/facility and users, but also as a networking and learning tool for staff. This relationship and use is not limited only to libraries, but is used by just about every academic subject. Of course, the information and education technology fields have embraced this use of Twitter.
Experts in the field of ed tech like Kathy Schrock use Twitter to point their followers in the direction of interesting topics for discussion, resources, address questions followers may have, announce upcoming talks or appearances and share their thoughts on advances in their field. For example, earlier this week, Schrock tweeted the following tweet of a really great Responsible Use graphic created by a student in her class. Now, her followers can see an example of a polished and teen friendly document and follow the person who created it, who will likely be doing other quality work in the future. Thus organic networking happens.
Created the attached in @canva. One of my grad students wrote the Responsible Use Policy. I liked his focus! pic.twitter.com/VYi6sg60w6
— Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock) January 24, 2016
I've also found while studying the twitter feeds of experts in ed tech that changing the way people think about education, about how to teach and about the growing use of technology in education is a prominent theme.
What if we started thinking about 1:1 initiatives as 1 tchr learning 1 new thing about 1 of their students every single day? #edchat #tlchat
— Library Girl (@jenniferlagarde) January 28, 2016
As a side note, I stumbled upon Library Girl's feed through a tweet of a friend of mine who teaches here in San Antonio and attended a training with her. I really wish I had checked twitter earlier and maybe gotten in on that!Here's the sum up - if you haven't been using social media to communicate with your students and your parents, you are missing out on a great chance to create advocates for your library, get students excited about what they're doing in that space and advertise for future events. You are also missing out on a huge professional development treasure trove that is less time consuming and more focused and purpose driven than sitting in most traditional professional development sessions. Plus, our peers are funny people and their twitter feeds reflect that. Get in on that action!
Here are some people you should be following:
@jenniferlagarde - Jennifer LeGarde aka Library Girl
@kathyschrock - Kathy Schrock
@lbraun2000 - Linda Braun
@buffyjhamilton - Buffy Hamilton
@GwynethJones - Gwyneth Jones aka The Daring Librarian
@jimlerman - Jim Lerman
Then take some times to read through their feeds and start following some of their followers. The next thing you know, you'll have a huge cadre of people to learn from and share with!
I like that you said the Facebook page needs to be promoted. I think we sometimes take for granted that parents and students are constantly searching for those things, but they really aren't. A few well placed emails and blurbs would definitely help. I wonder about that advertisement of the Facebook page with the schools I looked at. The page had likes, but the comments themselves had few likes or comments. If I was maintaining a Facebook page for my library, I would definitely want to see some interaction on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas about how Facebook should be promoted. It doesn't do much good if not everyone knows about it. Using promotional ideas to get the word out to "like" your page is just as important as setting it up in the first place. Using a QR code on a flyer or newsletter is a great idea. I'm also in San Antonio and would have loved to attended the training from Library Girl! Ok, that is motivation to start following Twitter daily. I think a tiny bit of Twitter a day could go a long way in keeping up to speed on everything. I notice that when I haven't been on it in a long time, I feel more overwhelmed by the information I missed.
ReplyDeleteAll good points! Thanks for the suggestions as well!
ReplyDelete