Bullies, Trolls and Fakes

As many of you know I am a huge proponent of social media use for educators. The potential positives for teachers and administrators alike are boundless and I know my professional growth has been impacted greatly through my use of social media. I have been able to gain countless resources to pull into my practice as a classroom teacher, which has benefited my students. In addition, I have been exposed to ideas and thoughts influencing the way I think about and perform my duties as a teacher. On top of it all, I have made countless connections with inspiring, friendly, helpful and even humorous individuals around the globe. Every single one of these people has changed the way I look at many aspects of my role as a teacher both from the good and the bad.

However, having said all of that, I feel as though there are pieces to social media many people are aware of but seldom point out when talking about it to new users. In fact, there is a pretty dirty underbelly to social media worth mentioning and being made aware of.

For starters, there are bullies abound in the world and social media is no exception. There will be a time when you will share something and you will be bullied for what you share. It will come in the form of derogatory tweets or negative comments on your post, picture or video. In some cases you may want to write about something culturally, politically or racially charged. Inevitably you will be harassed because you are not ____(fill in blank with a race, gender, other social status)____ and therefore you are not worthy of taking up that banner. On one hand some will ridicule you for bringing the subject up at all while on the other you will be ridiculed because you should have written or talked about it sooner. With some people there will be no winning.

Another thing will be when you share something and someone else will tell you they are already doing it or has previously done it. These trolls will claim your idea is not new and therefore people shouldn’t celebrate your own personal innovation but rather condemn you for not arriving at that idea earlier. They will not be content with your personal discovery or a new idea but rather judgmental you didn’t come up with it sooner or that you are just copying something already being done.

In addition to bullying, you have to watch out for the fake teachers out there trying to put out the persona of perfection. If you follow certain individuals or groups you might think you are inadequate or in no way capable of teaching at the level they do. Every post, tweet or picture is the model of the perfect classroom and the perfect lesson. It is easy to follow them and feel like there are impossible standards to live up to. In many cases I have looked at teacher’s content online and feel as though they are prefect in every single aspect of teaching. It appears as though social media is being used as a way to make others feel bad for not doing all the amazing things other people are doing in their schools or classrooms.

Having said all of that, I still support social media use and encourage teachers to use it as a way to connect themselves to the world. Bullies, trolls and fakes are there but that is life. Ignore, block and move on. Also know they are clearly in the minority. Don’t ever be afraid to stand up for what you believe in and write, tweet, post what you are passionate about. Recognize everyone is at a different place in this wild journey we call education and life. Some are further along than you and will potentially put you down for it. Ignore them and think about those who are at the same place or a different place and will be influenced by you sharing your work. As for the “perfect” teachers out there, recognize it is not all true. Many teachers talk themselves up in social media but also they are not completely honest or at least not fully transparent. It is not popular to share real failures and days where we had a horrible lesson or blew up on a kid. Bottom line, people are only sharing the best of what they have to offer. There is nothing wrong with this but just keep this in mind when reading about those so-called perfect lessons or strategies. Realize it and just keep focusing on making yourself better one day at a time.

Social media can be the key to unlocking great connections for you and your students. However, just be aware of the trolls, bullies and fakes out there. Recognize them and move on to create those meaningful connections that will better you as a teacher and as a person.