ISCI 761 M8: Social Media

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The social media I chose to experiment with for my school library program is Instagram. I have experience with Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat but I mostly use Facebook. As a faculty sponsor of a club for the last two years, I've noticed that Instagram is more popular with students within the Beta Club program I have facilitated. I like that Instagram has the ability to share images and videos as well as short text - I think these are most engaging for students. My profile overview is below.


My biography on the profile just explains that it is a model account for a high school library rather than a true account. However, I did follow some library and education related accounts. The first post I made was to emphasize that this was not a real school account but a graduate school assignment and it has links to the Google Site I am working on and this Blogger.



The latest post that I've made (as of October 11th, 2022), is a video I made using Canva of Halloween book recommendations. This was made in an attempt to experiment with Instagram and Canva capabilities. My disappointment with Canva is that the music I thought was best for this post was behind a paywall so I posted without sound. Canva was not difficult to make the video with but I think I prefer WeVideo for video creation and editing. On the Instagram post, I explained the purpose of the post and I asked viewers to engage by commenting their scariest book.

I would like to see my Instagram be an interactive and helpful resource. I want it to be a virtual space of celebration for our media center and school accomplishments as well as a place for students to engage about library related activities and interests. My second post was made in an effort to model that interest. My future posts will likely reflect a celebration of a library activity and another interactive reading engagement post.

My Instagram will connect to instruction by posting work done by students and lessons the library collaborates with or hosts. I'd like to see viewers of the profile engage in the comments - which is one way I hope to use the social media account for communication. For an active library, I think I'd like to see one to two posts a week - which could be reminders of events, book recommendations, praises of student accomplishments within the library, etc. Lastly, I would like to see the profile used to inform student choice, rights, and assist in learning.

Going through the SLIS 761 Google Slides was helpful defining informal and formal versions of advocacy which helps to inform the types of posts I could make. For example, I think an elevator speech might be a good idea for a video post on the social media and as a post on the homepage of the Google Site. One way I can increase that communication and collaboration is possibly through the use of hashtag and incorporating hashtag based challenges for engagement awards. I like the idea of a student designing the logo as well because it encourages the view of the profile as a celebration of the school library community. Right now the image I have matches the background of my blog but it's not very personal or helpful for identification as a school name or logo would be. I think that social media is a good resource for connection and continuing education that provides a form of evidence for gauging library engagement and outreach. Lucas John Jensen (2019) offered good advice at the end of his article: "The most important thing to consider is that social media, while it has its own unique challenges and peculiarities, must still be approached like any educational technology tool: choose the best tool for the task. Find the affordances of the social media platform that make it distinct, determine what your goals are and how to assess them, investigate your learners, consider their privacy and safety, and then open up your online course environments to the weird, wild world of social media" (p. 30). Safety and authenticity of use are important considerations in the use of social media. "The Instagram Now" article from Molly Wetta (2016) was really useful in post suggestions and accounts to follow. The tip about using Iconosquare as a method for tracking account data is also really helpful as a medium for gathering evidence on the library. 

SIDE NOTE: For those unfamiliar with Google Sites, Google Analytics can be used to help track your website activity. Images below are from the LEHS Beta Club website I run. Using this data has been really helpful to our club!



References
Jensen, L.J. (2019). "Integrating social media into online education." Librarians as Online Course Designers and Instructors, pp. 27-30.
Wetta, M. (2016). "Instagram now: Engage young users with the image-based social media tool." School Library Journal, pp. 30-32.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 15, 2022 at 9:41 PM

    I agree - Instagram is a great place to meet patrons, especially with the emphasis on images! I like your point that we don’t need to post every day, 1-2 times a week can keep energy and engagement around programs and library news. Thank you for sharing! - Marné Fletcher

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whitney TylerOctober 15, 2022 at 10:32 PM

    I love your IG page! I agree, Instagram is way more popular with teens. I work with younger students so I made a Twitter and Facebook to reach my target audience: their parents. It's so surreal that Facebook is seen as a platform for an older generation. This week's module has taught me that any social media is better than no social media. We have to make like libraries visible and accessible. To reach our school communities, they have to know what is going on behind our doors. Social media is an excellent way to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jacqueline SabreeOctober 16, 2022 at 1:08 PM

    Hello and thanks for allowing me to comment on your blog. Facebook is my preferred social media also. However, we have to go where the masses are to reach them. Recommending themed books for holidays is an excellent idea. It narrows the search for students.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ella RollingsOctober 16, 2022 at 8:17 PM

    I also decided to use instagram as my platform. I mentioned that is was used amongst all ages. I like that you can post pictures and videos. I know kids like watching videos on instagram because it is similar to the popular app, TikTok. I really like the look of your page. Excited to see how things progress on your IG!
    -Ella Rollings

    ReplyDelete

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