The first time I heard about Facebook was when my oldest son entered college in 2007. The intent was for college students to stay connected or to make connections. Soon after he began complaining that "old" people were beginning to take over Facebook. Of course, now the rest is history. I never started a Facebook page out of respect for having 3 college students. I feel like I don't need to know everything my children are doing. They need to have their own lives. I consider myself pretty computer savvy but have never been interested in social media.
Recently I connected to LinkedIn. I am still trying to get comfortable with setting up profiles, etc. which my son has taken over. I thought maybe I could post some downloads from Children's Defense Fund but I do not think I can. If anyone knows how to do that please let me know. Those of you on LinkedIn, please be patient with me while I learn.
Facebook is such an effective tool to use in spreading messages. Unfortunately, some of the messages are negative, but there are also some very inspiring messages that others tell me they have read. I would like to start a Facebook page just for advocacy work. I think what makes social media so effective is that people do not feel pressured into something when they can read it on their own time. When someone confronts you face to face about working on a cause, you are put on the spot. Letting people read about early childhood issues, and presenting them with the problems and solutions, empowers people to come to their own conclusions.
One of the issues my children dislike about Facebook, is that people feel the need to comment too much on an issue. However, in advocacy work, this could work as a positive aspect. The more we can get people talking about early childhood issues, the more attention these issues are receiving.
I will take any suggestions from anyone about how to set up a Facebook page on early childhood advocacy issues, and any help you can give involving LinkedIn. Thanks!
Hi Jo! I am happy to have LinkedIn with you. I think the important thing is who you follow. It's a lot of stuff coming into my email box and most of it I delete just cause we are at school and at work. Social media can clutter up your life, that's for sure. There are lots of Facebook pages from organizations, like Zero to Three or Center for Commercial Free Childhood, that make it easy to keep up with their advocacy work. I like my privacy too. My Facebook page is a "community" page. It is a way to build an audience for my public speaking career and for EC advocacy as well. I often share research that I think folks will be interested in and enough fun to keep folks engaged. You don't need to have a Facebook account to view a community page, check mine out and see what you think. I always remind myself that the more I have, the more I have to manage. Thanks for your post, our journey into social media is similar. I am not "friends" with my kids on Facebook, it does seem like a universe meant for younger folks (until people become grandparents at least!).
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