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MANAGING YOUR PTA – Social media
The challenges
Take care to stay calm and positive: l Once a message is public, you lose control over it. A controversial post or a mistimed comment can easily be shared.
l People may choose to write negative stories and comments about your school community.
l You cannot guarantee that every interaction will be positive.
Privacy is a burning issue: l Some parents will not want images of their children online.
l Not every member of your community will want to participate.
l It’s likely that, at some point, you will share something that someone objects to.
Your time is valuable: l A newsletter or email can be
put together in an hour or two, but a social media page requires regular monitoring and updating.
l You may find yourself checking the page too often.
l Parents are busy people and volunteers may not always have the time to help run the account.
If you’ve weighed up the pros and cons and still want to get your PTA on social media, that’s great news! You have the chance to share news, updates and images, and ensure your school community feels included in the hard work you are doing. It’s a good idea to do your own research to learn more about your chosen social media platform as you get further into running your account.
THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF SOCIAL MEDIA DO
DON’T
l Have clear, agreed-upon responsibilities for admins – for example, who manages
the page on which days l Agree as a group the kind of content you want to post (e.g. events, good news stories,
announcements, questions) l Agree on the kind of content you don’t want to post (e.g. pictures of children, political
statements) l Decide if you want to run a public page or a private group. Anyone can see and like a page, whereas users have to request to join a group, so you
can vet who sees your posts l Set clear policies and ensure
everyone has access to them l Set clear rules for members to follow (you can write this as a post and ‘pin’ it so it is
the first thing visitors see) l Get permission for the things you share on your page (e.g. the school’s logo, images with
faces in) l Use the full functionality: you can upload files such as agendas or minutes, and block or mute members who don’t follow the rules.
l Take on more than you can manage. Set limits on how many hours the admins will
give to running the page l Post without a plan. You don’t have to have everything planned out in advance, but it’s good to share ideas so other admins don’t get a nasty
surprise one day! l Disrespect admins and policies. You may be tempted to share something that goes against your policies, but remember that this isn’t your
personal project – it’s the PTA’s l Forget to ask for feedback from the school community (the way your page operates should be adaptable and
change over time) l Bend your rules. They’re there for a reason and if you let people get away with infringements, you will lose
control before you know it! l Presume. Never go with ‘I’m sure this will be fine’; always go
with ‘check, then check again’ l Let things slide. If you aren’t able to help with the page anymore, step back so it can continue running smoothly.
For more information
For more information on the UK Safer Internet Centre, visit
saferinternet.org.uk, or find it on Facebook at @saferinternetuk or Twitter: @UK_SIC
22 SPRING 2020
pta.co.uk
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