There is an enlarged cartoon hanging up in our main office at the high school.  It is a picture of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.  A potential resident in Heaven is approaching him. “Just one moment,” says St. Peter.  ” I need to check your Facebook account before I let you in.”
We have become very good at teaching our students about Internet safety and how not to post embarrassing pictures of ourselves on social media. What we need to do now is model for our students how to leave a digital footprint that is positive and impressive.

“One of the reasons social media has grown so fast is that it taps into what we, as human beings, naturally love and need and want to do—create, share, connect, relate” ( Jamie Notter & Maddie Grant).

We need to show our students how to create messages that persuade, entertain, and influence our audience.  Our messages must be written with intention, including an awareness of an audience we can only imagine. Facebook, WordPress, BlogSpot, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat have all had a profound effect on our schools, our families, and our cultures.  Let’s model how to drive these vehicles so that our travels are accomplished with an appropriate seat belt instead of proceeding with reckless abandon.

“Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo, or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprint and personal brand”( Amy Jo Martin).  Social media is not going away.
When I started my blog I had zero followers and I wasn’t following anyone.  That is how everyone starts out.  The important thing was my message.

Perhaps it is because I know we are our stories that I want people to share—to tell their stories and know that these stories are important for everyone. I think this quote sums it up…

“Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that… there are many kinds of magic, after all.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus