This is my 2nd post for the UofC Continuing Ed course – BMC 312 Social Media Essentials. This assignment requires us to “identify 2 specific learnings you have had about social media content best practices.”
These past few weeks have been interesting as I am taking in so much info regarding Social Media – realizing how much I’ve learned through hands-on trial and error, realizing how little I have known, realizing how much more we should be overtly teaching students Social Media skills with Digital Citizenship – which I try to do when blogging with students in English and Creative Writing classes. But I am middle-aged and Social Media skills are still experimental and awkward to me. However, the more I read and learn, the more I play with social media – the more important I think that the KSA’s (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) should be taught and nurtured – kind of like Sex Ed needs to be taught and not just happened upon (although, please – never ask me to teach Sex Ed).
My big “AHAs” could really have me write about a dozen different moments and realizations – but for the sake of conciseness (a social media best practice), I will limit my response to TWO, as assigned: Content Mix & Content Organization.
#1 CONTENT MIX
The challenge for many of us in actively engaging our “brand” on social media is the challenge “what to post”. I liked the simplicity of the CCC – reminding me that I don’t have to “write” it to post it.
CREATE = this is where I am the creator of a social media post because I personally wrote it, or shared an image or video that I took or created.
CURATE = this is where I link or share content created by another writer or source. This is how I most often use social media – to share the great “aha” material that others have created. But in doing so, I’m mindful to choose material that maintains my purpose, my style, my interests both professionally and personally (ensuring that my “personal” presence supports my professional role). I have a rule that if I wouldn’t say or share it in a class, then it should not be on my social media – personally or professionally. Kind of like the “grandparent rule” for students – would you be okay with your grandparent reading this?
COLLABORATE = partner with others so the onus of creating material is not on you. I guess that this is what happens on my classroom blogs – they are a collaboration of voices from the class.
- AP Class Blog – http://aphunniblog.edublogs.org/
- here you’ll see a collection of AP English students’ writing since 2015 – a wealth of exemplars and inspiration for other student writers taking Advanced Placement English (university level reading, writing, and exams in high school)
- Creative Writing Class Blog – http://hunniwriters9.edublogs.org/
- here you’ll see that students query to publish their favourite pieces onto our class “hub”, but there are links to each students’ created blog in the sidebar – via their name and blog title.
I also felt that the link to A Beginners Guide to Social Media Practices at moz.com to be an excellent resource in reviewing the “how” and “what” regarding Content Mix.
I particularly loved this infographic in the moz.com article as it reminded me of important responsibilities and opportunities around creating content – this is something I will use with my classes as I teach blogging and digital citizenship:
#2 CONTENT ORGANIZATION
I have never considered “scheduling” social media posts because I’m not a business (at this time) that is trying to build a following for economic purposes. I just post what I like, when I want to. I try to maintain a “presence” as an influencer, but not a gainer.
Although, I do have a “newsletter” that comes out on my twitter automatically every Sunday morning – Paper li curates my twitter interests and creates a newsletter that I read every Sunday morning – but I doubt it has many readers other than myself. (Paper li is something I’m looking at using more with my students’ writing and reading this year.)
- My Paperli Newsletter from Sunday, August 11 – https://paper.li/PamelaHunnisett/1362942985#/
- More info about using Paper li can be found here: https://paper.li/learn-more.html
But after reading this article: How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar: Tips and Templates – I began to see the relevance and importance of this for building a brand or promoting a business. Truly, companies can take the job of marketing into their own control. This is definitely something I will look into working with more if I am in a position of needing this type of marketing presence. Coschedule was a website that definitely caught my eye regarding this work.
All in all, my mind is rattled and my curiosity peaked! My social media presence this week has been mindful – I’ve been keenly aware and reflective in my roles of being a creator, a curator, a collaborator, a learner, a reader, and a responder – I am part of the hubs and spokes that are redefining what it is to be a human in the 21st century.
thehunni 
