Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Oh, my!

Facebook

I searched Facebook for school libraries and received limited results.  I was pleased to see that our district has an AISD School Libraries page but it had limited posts and even fewer likes or comments.  The page did not seem to receive much traffic.  Several of the pages that I looked at had not been updated in many years.  My daughter’s school, Ann Richard’s School for Young Woman Leaders, has a fairly active page.  It is updated a few times a month.  There were no recent comments or likes.  The Barbara Bush Middle School page is active but there were few likes and comments on the posts.  I feel that Facebook’s time has passed as a way to promote business or library.  I can see it as a way to reach parents but there are so many other ways that seem more effective.  The advantages that I see are that it is a familiar and easy to use format.  A disadvantage that I see is that there is a minimum age requirement to sign up for an account and you cannot browse without an account.  This would limit the audience that views the page.

Twitter
Twitter seems to be a more effective way to communicate with others.  You can find me at Melissa Atterberry @melatter1210  I like that you can share information that you find in a quick easy way.  Linda Braun @lbraun2000 tweeted information about assessing social and emotional skills without using an assessment

I like that you can retweet other ideas easily.  She shares technology articles and information.  Twitter’s feed is user friendly and many users update frequently.  You can browse information without having an account.

 Gwyneth Jones @GwenthJones tweets about activities at her school, books, articles, etc.  Her tweets are helpful and interesting.  I had a hard time not going down the rabbit hole!

The ways to use Twitter in the library are endless.  You could use it to promote special events and show what is happening in the library.  You could use it to highlight new books or what students are reading.  You could share articles with students, parents, and teachers as well as other librarians.

Instagram

I am new to posting on Instagram although I’ve been enjoying it for years.  My username is melatter1210.  I can see appeal of using Instagram as a way to interact with library patrons.  You could post pictures of what you are reading or post videos of activities that you do in the library.  Teachers could post what they are reading to encourage kids to read.  This would be a great platform to share maker projects or book fair.  I’ve dipped my toes into Instagram but need to really immerse myself.  One of my concerns would be how do you limit followers and their comments?

There are so many great platforms to share information with others.  The key is finding the one or ones that you are comfortable using and will use with fidelity.  If you set up the account but never use it, people will not use it as a resource.