I have to confess that I am fairly challenged when it comes
to using technology. So using any forms of social media are not something that
I often go to unless I am bored and just want to view the latest pictures of
family and friends through Facebook. It is only recent that I have found
Pintrest and have been searching all sorts of ideas for home and work. While I
often feel as though some members of these social media sites use it as a
venting system or gossip forum, I can see the benefits to sharing memorable
moments with others and keeping in touch, especially with those that live far
away.
Using social media sites can certainly be a positive
opportunity to share advocacy information where you can reach multiple people
at once and provide links to resourceful information on the issues being
advocated for. I have noticed one of the ways Facebook has shown effective
advocacy is by allowing “creators” to start a page or forum for a particular
group of people to come together and discuss a particular topic or issue. One
page/group that I am a part of on Face book is titled “Yummy from My Mummy”.
This group advocates for breastfeeding and will be used as a useful resource to
promote public breastfeeding awareness as our local Breastfeeding Friendly
Committee posts information for any members to view. Another effective way for
advocating this issue in particular is that Facebook allows for links to other
sites to be posted giving members the opportunity to share other resources.
Tonight I was able to link to another social media that I hadn’t thought of
before as a useful tool: BLOGS! I can’t believe I forgot about this considering
we have been using this tool throughout our time at Walden.
I plan to use each of these social media tools to promote
awareness to my advocacy efforts and to advise of upcoming community events. I
also have been using these tools as a way to build on my own knowledge as I
learn from the experiences of others and read the articles and resources shared
by others. I have known of many of my coworkers to use these tools as a way to
connect with other early childhood professionals as well. Social media is a
great way to connect with others in an informal manner and give a voice to the
efforts being made in the early childhood field.
Terri,
ReplyDeleteI had not thought of blogs either nor Pinterest. I use both. I have created boards on Pinterest for different things and like you have a blog for use in classes here at Walden. I could create a blog specifically for my advocacy cause and connect to others through my blog, post my blog link on Facebook, and email my link to my address book while encouraging those in my contact lists to share the information with those they know. Thanks for reminding me of the obvious, blogging, I had forgot about.
I also use Facebook and believe it is a great way to advocate for children and families. Millions of people have the opportunity to view what you post which gives you access to people you would never have the opportunity to meet otherwise.
ReplyDeleteTerri,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first created my Facebook page, I set it up with the intentions of staying connected with family, friends,old classmates and colleagues, however, it seems more and more people are just using it for reasons other than what it was originally created for. I just as with anything else social media can be used for good or bad. It's just dependent on the user, but I do believe that it can be a great way to share valuable information with others. It gives us the ability to reach more people in the shortest amount of time.
I agree Terri that social media is a great way to connect with others in an informal manner and give a voice to the efforts being made in the early childhood field. It not only educates initial watchers but can become part of a thread that can be accessed by all. It is one of the most effective free marketing tools today
ReplyDelete