Facebook & Twitter

Facebook

Facebook is one of the largest social media sites with 1.8 billion active users worldwide. Facebook allows people to keep in contact with family and friends through status updates, photos, and videos. You can reconnect with old friends from school and meet new friends with common interests in groups. Over the last several years, Facebook has evolved to be used by many business owners, organizations, and schools. 

I did a search for "school library" to get a better idea of how school libraries are using Facebook. I found many local school library pages to explore. I noticed that many of them use their page to promote events such as book fair, share makerspace activities, highlight student club activities, and post library hours and important information. Even though the pages had many followers, I noticed that very few people comment, or even like the posts. It makes me wonder how many parents and students are really paying attention to the information shared. Exploring the library pages made me realize that like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to libraries using Facebook pages. 

Advantages:

• Free platform to communicate with families
• Many people are already using Facebook
• Promote school and library events
• Share photos of what the students are doing in the library
• Share new books, makerspace tools, or technology
• Post library hours and schedule

Disadvantages:

• Not every family uses Facebook
• Time consuming to keep information up to date
• Followers often don't engage with the page through likes or comments

Twitter

Another popular social media network is Twitter. Unlike Facebook, tweets are limited to 280 characters. Twitter is used by many people to keep up with breaking news, entertainment, and politics. I have never been very comfortable with Twitter, but it is my goal to start using it more this year and become more familiar with this platform. For my assignment, I was given a list of people to follow and explore on Twitter. I hope that you'll find some new faces to follow as well. 

Kathy Schrock: @kathyschrock

Kathy Schrock is frequently posts about technology. She is definitely one for librarians to follow as we shift into a more tech driven school environment. However, her posts aren't solely directed at librarians. Much of the information she shares is relevant to the general public. I was excited to see this tweet about Microsoft Office. 

Linda Braun: @lbraun2000

Linda Braun is an educator, librarian, learning consultant, and a previous YALSA president. She frequently retweets YALSA and tweets about youth services. You can tell she is passionate about being a teen advocate. I personally liked this article that she shared about how libraries have transformed in this digital age to stay relevant. 

https://t.co/5pp2PeY3NN

David Warlick: @dwarlick

David Warlick's Twitter bio says that he's mostly retired. That makes sense, because most of his tweets are about nature, music, and politics, with a few tech tweets sprinkled in. 

The Daring Librarian: @GwynethJones

The Daring Librarian, Gwyneth Jones, is Future Ready Librarian and public speaker. She has a huge following, not just on Twitter, but also on other social media and her blog. She is extremely active, posting multiple times a day. She is a must follow for any librarian! I love that she uses her social media presence to get people involved through challenges like this post. 

Jim Lerman: @jimlerman

Jim Lerman is an educator, author, and speaker. He posts tips for using various forms of technology, tutorials, and many educational helps. He is very active, posting a couple times a day. He would be a great person for any educator to follow. I really enjoyed reading the article he shared about collaboration with librarians. 

https://t.co/UO9zgxILeX

Blogs and Blog Readers

Honestly, I had never heard of a feed reader before this assignment.

After reading the suggested article, I feel like I have a better understanding. Like many people, I struggle with keeping up with all the various formats of information available. I have accessed a few blogs over the years, mostly by following links on Facebook or Pinterest. However, I have always felt it was too time consuming to keep up with multiple websites. Enter the RSS, or Really Simple Syndication. This allows users to access all of the websites or blogs that they want to follow in one easy to use location.

After reviewing the various blog readers in the article, I chose to join Feedly. It was quick and easy to join. You have the option to connect via your Google or Facebook account, or you can simply create a separate account. I was easily able to search for content and within minutes I was already following several blogs. The blog feed is neat and easy to read. You can save posts to read later and share with other users. You can even share content on your various social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook.

Below are the 5 blogs that I chose to follow. 

Mighty Little Librarian http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/
Tiffany Whitehead is a self proclaimed "obsessive reader, social media user, and technology geek." She blogs about various library topics such as lesson ideas, book challenges, and displays. I have followed her on Facebook for awhile, so I was excited to add her to my blog list. 

Mrs. ReaderPants  http://www.readerpants.net/

Leigh Collazo has spent the last four years as a librarian in China. Before that, she was a middle school librarian in Texas. Her blog is full of useful book reviews, lesson ideas, and management tips. She even has a wide variety of podcasts. I've been a fan of hers for awhile, but was surprised at how much information was available on her blog. Her blog is a great starting point for new librarians. 

The Adventures of Librarian Girl http://www.librarygirl.net/
Jennifer LaGarde has served in public education for 20 years. Her blog posts are witty and informative. She looks for ways to infuse technology into lessons, while still serving the literacy needs of her students. She also hosts an online book club that "meets" on Twitter.

The Daring Librarian https://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/
Gwyneth A. Jones covers pretty much everything library related on her fun blog. She discusses Twitter, bitmojis, makerspace ideas, reading lists, and much more. She has been recognized by many groups and organizations for her innovative library practices, including being named one of "15 Librarians to Follow on Instagram" by Scholostic.

The Incredibly True Adventures of a School Librarian  http://www.nikkidrobertson.com/

Nikki recently made the move back into an elementary library after many years at the high school level. In her blog, she shares many of the library procedures and practices that she is trying. She shares lots of videos and pictures, which helps add to her fun and helpful blog. This is a new one to me, but I look forward to reading more of what she has to share.

Besides jumping into the world of blog readers, I also decided to join Tumblr. I've heard a lot about it over the years, but have never explored it myself. This is another new adventure for me, but I am excited to try something new. You can find me at http://vmslibrary.tumblr.com.