Social media offers early childhood settings many benefits, it's a great way to stay in touch with families, engage with the wider community and showcase art works, improvements in the centre or special events. The two way flow of communication makes it a great forum for fielding questions and it can be a very effective and fast way of disseminating information.
These advantages all come with a certain element of risk and maximising the benefits of an online presence in social media can also be quite time consuming. It's important to have a clear understanding of these costs and benefits before embarking on a social networking campaign.
The most effective way to mitigate the risk of giving your service an online presence in social media is to develop and strictly adhere to a social media policy. At the heart of this policy needs to be recognition that protecting the service, families and privacy of the children in your service is the primary goal.
While every service needs to develop a policy which best meets the needs of their unique setting there are some common elements which will be useful in most policies. Some important variables to consider when developing and implementing your social media policy are:
Culture – Foster a culture of openness, listen to and respect the opinions of staff, families and educators when it comes to social media. Include information and convey the social media policy of the service as part of all family and staff orientation processes.
Trust – Staff and early childhood practitioners should understand the boundaries when using Facebook and maintain respect for others at all times.
Training – Where appropriate choose a designated person to manage and update your social media profiles and provide training on how to use your preferred social media channels, what to post, how to respond to messages, key objectives and what to do in the case of an issue arising.
Transparency – Transparency and authenticity are very important when it comes to maintaining an effective presence on social media. Be sure to keep your comments and relationships professional at all times.
Accuracy and currency – One of the true advantages of social media is it is immediate, to harness this be sure to include and share information that is current, interesting and accurate.
Comments – Develop a clear and consistent approach to responding to questions and comments and make sure staff and educators responsible for social media know when to seek guidance on what is appropriate information to share online.
Existing guidelines – Take a close look at your existing communications policies and guidelines and make sure your social media policy is compatible with your current practices.
Plan – Take a long term strategic approach to your social media policy and plan for implementation; think about who you want to reach, what the goals of your messaging are and how you can best achieve those goals.
Legal and ethical responsibilities - Gather your team together to brainstorm and discuss your legal and ethical responsibilities to the children in your service, the families, community and colleagues. If your service is part of a bigger group consult with the legal department and/or the communications team before going live with your social media campaign.
Responsiveness – social media operates around the clock and people who post comments and questions expect an answer promptly. Be prepared for this, develop a roster to ensure your profiles are being monitored by properly trained staff. Responses don't have to be instant, but a 24 hour turn around is the standard.
Privacy – Be certain that staff are clear on what information is appropriate and inappropriate to post on your preferred social media profiles. Ensure no private contact details are included and have a clear understanding what identifiers are permissible when posting photos of children.
Respect competitors – Do not write about other early childhood settings, be respectful of others in your community and focus on positive messaging.
Gather feedback – Seek and evaluate feedback from your audience. Let your audience know you are open to their comments and questions and value their engagement.
Resources – Social media is a very effective medium for sharing information and articles and as a trusted provider your audience is likely to appreciate any information you push out to them. It is important to be selective and thoughtful and only send information which is of high worth as people have very full inboxes and news feeds these days!
Confidentiality – Have a clear understanding of your legal requirements with regards to child safety and adhere to those requirements at all time.
Reference:
Early Childhood Ireland
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