What challenges do teachers face when attempting to marry the professional vs personal presence on social media?
Social media plays a huge role in modern day society. Everyone seems to be on some form of social media, be it Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. In terms of attempting to balance being professional but still having your own personal account on social media, I think it could be very difficult for a teacher. Social media has become so big these days that people are joining up to sites such as Facebook and Twitter at a younger age. This poses a risk to primary teachers because the pupils may be tempted to try and find you on such sites. I think, as a teacher, if you still have a personal account on Facebook you should change your name and make your account fully private.
Twitter is one of the social media sites where I believe you have to take the most care with what you post. I think a lot of people use Twitter in order to vent their frustrations and give opinions on their beliefs. If you post something inappropriate, it can be screenshotted by someone within seconds and it will remain on the internet forever, even if you delete it. I think the most important thing we must remember if we attempt to marry our professional and personal presence online is, to think before we post anything.
How do people view social media? How will I frame it?
In my opinion, I don’t think the older generations are as open to embracing social media, although there are plenty who do. I think there is a fear of it amongst older people because they are less open to people knowing a lot about their lives. Among younger people social media is viewed in a really positive way. Teenagers these days will check their social media every few minutes. In terms of framing social media, I believe that it is an amazing thing if used properly. However it is important to be aware of the risks, one wrong move on social media and you can harm your career.
