To be perfectly honest, I was not immediately drawn to Twitter. I was completely immersed in Facebook and thought that would be the extent of my social media use because I was an early adopter and it is where I was able to connect with all of my family and peers. The funny thing about technology though is that it changes almost daily and if you don't adapt, you will be left behind.
As a principal, I observed a number of my colleagues joining Twitter and establishing Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) and using the social media to grow professionally. I also observed a number of my students moving to Twitter to escape the drama that has infected other social medias. In an effort to stay informed, I signed up for an account and immediately was hooked. I was able to get some amazing professional development and also keep informed on what was going on in the lives of my students. Additionally, I was able to consume a lot of information in 140 characters or less.
I was recently reminded, however, by my good friend Josh Allen (@j_allen) in his post Don't Model Social Media Use about the responsibility of administrators to use social media for correct purposes. It is our responsibility to EDUCATE our youth on what is acceptable use of this technology. If we don't, how can we expect them to use it appropriately?
I will admit that I am guilty of not using social media appropriately all of the time. I have failed, but I admit my mistakes and learn from my failures when using social media. Don't we owe it to our students to model appropriate use so they can learn what is appropriate and what is not? As educators, we are always on the clock and teaching our students extends well beyond the classroom in to the digital realm. Let's teach our students about being good digital citizens and help them understand that what they put out on social media is either building or hurting their reputation.
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