Creating a Social Media Village
Grand Island Northwest High School
An ancient proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Many know this phrase, but what does it mean? A village consists of unique individuals who possess specialized roles based on personalized interests and strengths. There are many hands from multiple individuals of differing backgrounds who help ensure the child is strengthened and cared for consistently and proactively in a safe environment.
What if this village concept applies to more than the rearing of a child? What if, in fact, it’s the same for social media? Imagine, instead of running around in circles trying to be everywhere and do everything on your own, you could create content as a team, as a village, and utilize the strengths of each member in order to establish a consistent conversation and intentional interaction in the online world. This would change the game of social media.
No matter how hard you try, you can’t be everywhere you want to be. Even if you’re good at something, you aren’t always making a conscious effort to create content. -Heather Callihan.
To put it simply, one individual cannot be everywhere at all times. In 2017, Heather Callihan, Technology Integration Specialist, took the leap of faith and launched the use of Class Intercom in her school. Beginning with one student, Grand Island Northwest High School has since seen tremendous growth in the internship program surrounding the school’s social media platforms.
With multiple students creating content for the school’s online accounts, it would be easy to assume that inconsistency and inauthenticity would be prone to occur. Opposite of this stigma, the diversification of student input and engagement online is what provides schools with greater engagement, both in person and online. The team of social media interns at Grand Island Northwest serve a larger audience due to the varying involvement in school activities, such as music, sports, dance, and the robotics club.
Digital Citizenship begins with YOU.
It’s time to stop preaching to the choir about digital citizenship. Rather, it’s time to start giving students the appropriate hands on tools to practice what you preach, in order to begin seeing tangible results. With technology constantly improving and growing, students are in tune with this change and desire to be apart of it. Instead of simply enforcing rules to abide by, encourage professional engagement with applicable tactics to help students become better stewards of their words and time online.
This is Class Intercom; empowering content creation on social media and authentic connection within schools.
Written by Olivia Zamolo
