13064

13064

General Session - Conference Presentation Only (20 minutes, no formal paper)

Melissa Venable, OnlineCollege.org, Beaufort, South Carolina, USA, melissa@onlinecollege.org
 * Strategic Social Networking for the Online Instructor **

Social networking sites are making it easier than ever for online instructors to connect with both peers and students online, but not all platforms and accounts are ideal for this kind of interaction. Educators may encounter questions and concerns about how to proceed with both personal and professional communication via social media. The desire for some level of privacy must be balanced with the growing need for the development of a professional digital identity. But separating communication with friends and family from that with colleagues and students can be challenging. As an online instructor and writer, the presenter has faced many decisions related to public-facing social media and tried several approaches to managing multiple social networking accounts, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other online community memberships. She will provide her reflections on an organized and purposeful approach that includes strategic decisions for the use of a particular account or platform before engaging with peers and students. Considerations in this planning include: • audience - who you are networking with; • message - what you have to say and share; and • content - topics, types of materials, and • voice - your tone or "tweeting style." Session attendees will be asked to share their concerns, experiences, and recommendations as they relate to managing multiple social networking accounts.

Novice social, networking, professional, identity, online