On Cliques, Critiques and Anonymous Tweets

I’ve always been a little slow on the uptake. You could accuse me of many things, but bandwagon jumping probably isn’t one. I took up smoking in my late teens having previously never touched a cigarette and gave it up in my mid twenties because it was unhealthy and anti-social. I had my first mobile phone in my mid twenties, long after others had embraced the new technology, and have kept one ever since because they’re really useful and an essential piece of today’s life kit. I’ve now been using Twitter for 6 months (again, not quite on-trend) and am considering whether it goes the way of the cigarette or the mobile phone. Would I encourage someone to take up smoking? No. Would I recommend having a mobile phone? Well yes. Would I encourage teachers to get involved with Twitter? Hmmm...

Time is a precious commodity for all of us, and as professionals we need to prioritise carefully to ensure that we are making the best use of the time available to us, both in terms of our work and our ‘other’ lives. Twitter, and by extension, blogging, can be very time-consuming. Very few people would have ‘engaging with social media’ as part of their job description so such activities tend to be on top of or at the expense of other responsibilities. I have been amazed over the last few months at the frequency of Twitter activity amongst some educators. This doesn’t just include tweets but also the abundance of blogs and other related on-line activity that is promoted on Twitter. Many of these blogs, often written by English teachers, are excellent and contribute valuable thoughts and ideas. I have shared many with colleagues at school and used them to stimulate discussions and CPD opportunities. But where do they get the time?!

Parents often voice their concerns to me about how much time teenagers spend using social media and we discuss the pressure that they are often put under to maintain high-frequency communications and the paranoia that is often associated with this media – ‘have I missed anything?’, ‘are people talking about me?’, ‘I need to post comments or people might stop following me’, ‘I need to have more friends/followers otherwise people might think I’m not cool/interesting/popular/attractive.’ I sense that these are not feelings which are limited to teenagers. The accumulation of followers on Twitter seems to become a preoccupation for many, a form of competition for some and the basis of gloating for others. How many followers do you need? The British anthropologist, Robin Dunbar, suggested that the limit to the number of people whom one can maintain stable social relationships is between 100 and 230 (150 is often cited as the value known as Dunbar’s number). For many Twitter and blogging in its wider sense is a great way to reflect on practice and to develop networks and share ideas – this is a good use of time. But if it becomes an obsession eating away at time that could be spent more productively, whether on professional or personal relationships, then I would certainly advise caution.

Twitter is a magnificent breeding ground for cliques. Again, this is something that I often discuss with students and parents, warning them how easy it is for groups to be set up which can isolate others. And while on the one hand we might advise young people about the dangers of on-line cliques, especially with people that we don’t personally know, on the other it seems that teachers on Twitter (tweachers?!) often encourage the formation of groups which can make others feel isolated. I can see how PLNs (Personal Learning Networks) work and how Twitter can be a great way for people to communicate with like-minded professionals. However, unlike a conference call or a face-to-face meeting these Twitter networks are acted out on a very public stage. What does this say about those not included in the shout-outs or the professional back-slapping? While Twitter offers wonderful opportunities to share practice and engage in educational debate outside of your own institution, it can also trap people in the same issues of belonging and sycophancy that are associated with adolescent cliques.

I started blogging shortly before I started to use Twitter (about 6 months ago). This was largely to collect my ideas on the topic of social media in education which I have been speaking about in various forums over the last few years. For me blogging is very different from the more formal writing that I might do for academic research or other contributions to education. Primarily blogging is more of an aide-memoir, an opportunity to get ideas and thoughts down so they are not lost. But blogging is also a form of social media and my Blogger site can be accessed by anyone – this introduces an element of professionalism and responsibility which would be absent from private scribbling. I am more than happy to have my work critiqued, especially if I have chosen to make it public. Fortunately not many people read my blogs and as a result I haven’t received much critique, but to be honest this is not what I’m after. What I want is discussion about issued raised, not criticism of my writing style or structure. If this were an article for an academic journal or part of a Masters submission then I’d spend more time and effort on the structure, but blogging should be about the substance. Some of the critics who populate Twitter with their bile should consider what negative feedback can do, especially if they’re employed in education.

One of the key pieces of advice that we offer to young people using social media is to not give up too much personal information. Particularly young children are told to not use their real names, something that is generally not considered to be applicable by the time they reach their teenage years. Ask FM, an awful but popular social network, allows users to post anonymous comments about each other, leading to some pretty horrific and hurtful comments. I can understand that educators are sensitive about sharing personal details, including names, on social media sites, and as a result many teachers on Twitter use a pseudonym. The problem with anonymity and social media, as shown by sites like Ask FM, is that people get braver when their identity is concealed, and there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. Some of the personal attacks I have read on Twitter between fellow educators in recent weeks has been really disappointing and masks the vastly positive and warm communications that have been more prevalent during my Twitter time. We tend to call such people trolls but maybe we need to start identifying them as misogynists, homophobes, racists or whatever the sad contributing fact is that lies behind their insecurity and malicious intent.

So will I ditch Twitter with my Malboro Lights or continue to embrace it like my Samsung Galaxy? Despite my misgivings which have been somewhat over-amplified above, the positivity which surrounds most of the activity I have either witnessed or participated in on Twitter over the last few months far outweighs the negativity. It’s great to know how many wonderful educators are out there at a time when our profession is under attack from many areas. We need to defend our position as teachers and together we are most definitely stronger. It can be a great use of time as long as it doesn’t become obsessive, groups are generally more open than closed with people willing to engage with newcomers and the critics and abusers are more of a nuisance than a substantial detraction. Twitter is not great CPD but it can act as a wonderful stimulus for exploration and innovation. I have and will continue to warmly recommend it to colleagues with a few caveats and words of caution. Let’s all try and make it a little bit better.