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Facebook and Twitter for Public Schools. Michael Sponhour and Megan Herring SC Budget and Control Board SC/NSPRA Winter Workshop January 21, 2010. Social Media is a tool. It is not a strategy. 350 million active users worldwide 958,220 South Carolina users older than 18
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Facebook and Twitter for Public Schools Michael Sponhour and Megan Herring SC Budget and Control Board SC/NSPRA Winter Workshop January 21, 2010
Social Media is a tool. It is not a strategy.
350 million active users worldwide • 958,220 South Carolina users older than 18 • 126,000 teen users in South Carolina • 2.5 billion photos uploaded monthly • 3.5 billion links, stories, notes shared weekly
Facebook as a Tool • Repurpose all announcements, photos, events, press releases to Facebook • Encourage participation – you want parents and students to become involved by making comments, leaving suggestions, posting their own pictures • Answer comments – Facebook must be a two-way communication platform. • Monitor – Even if you don’t think Facebook is for you, you need to monitor what others are saying about you.
A microblogging site • 140 character maximum • Not a young person’s medium • 58 million users worldwide, 21 million in the US • Grew fast, slowed down, but appears to be growing again • Very popular with reporters, opinion leaders • Great way to repurpose content and share things that don’t merit a release • Easy to get started
Things to Consider • Target Audience With SM – Parents, PTA/SIC leaders, teachers • Seek interaction • Can your organization deal with a negative comment on Facebook? • Set guidelines for who can post for the district.
Measuring Your Work • Find similar school districts to yours throughout the state and country and see how you stack up. • Pay attention to the level of interaction on both Facebook and Twitter – do people seem involved with your sites or is it more one-way? • Compare quality and quantity – do you have a good number of followers from your demographic? Are your followers local or spammers?
Things to Consider for a District SM Policy • Who can create a SM site – district, school? • What about student and/or support groups? • How do you consistently brand and monitor? • How do you deal with personal SM sites – FOIA • How do you deal with personal SM sites – teacher/student interaction