Social Media & Schools: The Engagement Post

I will certainly not say that the best or most important post type has been saved for last, but the final post type does take the most guts, for sure.  The engagement post is where a measure of control of the social media and storytelling reins is released to the folks that truly have the power to make it move and make it something amazing that we could never make it on our own.

The engagement post is just that, a post aiming to elicit a response from the community and open up the opportunity for conversation and a perspective outside of the school perspective.  It is a true test of the norms and digital citizenship of the community.  It is imperative that norms have been developed and shared prior to attempting the engagement post.
There are so many opportunities with the engagement post.

• feedback from an event (see example)
• conversation starter from an article
• quick poll or survey
• unsolicited post from a community member (question, comment, photo, etc.)

Again, it is vital to have established norms of social media behavior prior to jumping into the engagement post type.  See my previous post on Norms for more information and resources.  When used to the fullest potential, the engagement post has the opportunity to mobile your silent majority it ways that maybe other avenues do not.  Many people are not going to feel comfortable to stand up in front of a PTA meeting, board meeting or the like and brag on the wonderful things happening in our schools and classrooms.  Many may not think about sending an e-mail after that positive interaction or experience they had.  But, if we choose to meet our community where they are and give them the opportunity to respond and share, some pretty amazing things are going to happen from there.  One positive story may feed into and prompt another and before long we have a pretty spectacular picture of what the school experience is for our families that grace our doors on a daily basis!

Be brave, engage and happy posting!

B