The Do's and Do Nots of Social Media as an Educator

    As the world is currently in 2022, technology has one of the biggest impacts on human life, and it affects how we communicate with one another. More specifically, the introduction of social media has given individuals the ability to message and view other people at just a click of a button, which has it's pros and cons. As educators, we must be able understand the positives and negatives of social media, and how to portray ourselves in a professional manner online. So today, I'm going to go over some of the do's and don'ts of social media use as an educator

Do:

• Create a social media account
• This gives us as educators an opportunity to protect themselves from any potent threat of students posing as a teacher on social media. There are many stories of teachers losing their jobs to students that have pretended to be the teacher, and then making controversial posts that end up costing the teacher their job.
  
• Show hobbies and fun things about yourself
• Again, building off of the validity of the social media account, don't be afraid to post fun, professional things about yourself. This looks like hobbies, your family, and friends! However, do make sure to have professional photos only on your social media, as we'll cover later why unprofessional images could cause issues
• Create a fun account for students to follow
• This is an amazing idea given by some teachers that allows students to make fun posts and interactions through social media, while also learning! One great example I've personally seen floating around was having students make posts on a social media acting as a historical figure, and making conversation with other historical figures through social media. This allows students to learn through a means of which they are already well-versed in using, and allows for a ton of fun in the learning process!

Do Not:

• Post media containing alcohol, drugs, or other inappropriate activities
• This is hopefully self-explanatory, but please do not post pictures containing inappropriate behaviors. As an educator, you are going to have parents and students who are looking for you on social media, and are trying to find one reason as to why you aren't fit to be an educator. Instead of giving them that one reason that could potentially get yourself fired, just stick to appropriate images and posts on social media.

• Follow a student on social media/ let them follow you
• Although we as educators definitely want to build relationships with our students, friending them on social media may not be the best way to go about it. This leaves you liable to students messaging you on social media. Some students may have only positive things to say on social media, but it only takes one student starting an inappropriate conversation to potentially lose you your job. Just avoid the hassle and don't follow your students.

    Overall, social media is a large aspect of teaching in today's world, and should be handled properly in order to obtain and sustain a teaching position. Hopefully following these tips will help you guys become more aware as individuals on social media, and how to look professional from a social media standpoint.