5 Things I Hate About My Role in School Social Media
Andrea Gribble
#SocialSchool4EDU Founder | Providing social media training for K12 schools | National speaker, blogger, author, & podcaster
No matter how cool our job is, sometimes it’s not all sunshine and roses! I bet you would LOVE to wave a magic wand and get rid of a few annoying aspects of your job – like blurry photos and “urgent” requests that aren’t really urgent – right?!
Now, I’ve been working in the trenches of school social media for 10 years, and I’m a pretty positive, optimistic person. But I’m also all about keeping things real, so I thought it would be helpful to commiserate with you for a moment! We can all admit it: There are some things that are simply not fun about managing school social media.?
Today, I’m going to share the five things about school social media that fill me with dread because I know you can relate to them, too. These are more than minor annoyances, many of which I address in my book. Because these are bigger issues, I’m also going to give you some advice for mitigating these sticking points in your role, so you can keep your focus on the important work of celebrating your students and staff.
#1: I Hate Dealing with Tragedies?
Working in school communication, the odds are likely that we’re going to have to deal with a tragedy at some point. Student or staff deaths, missing person cases, crimes, fires, bomb threats, and more are all possibilities when it comes to your school community. Our team at #SocialSchool4EDU has had all of these things happen!?
Obviously, no one enjoys being a school communicator during times like this, but I wanted to put this point at the top of my list because it’s the #1 thing that brings me down in my job. If you’re the same way, I empathize completely.
My team and I manage social media for 80+ school districts, and I also mentor hundreds of schools within my membership program. Tragic events happen, and it’s really disheartening to have to deal with them or help someone else handle them for their school.?
The thing I hate the most is having to numb my own feelings and tell myself, “OK, I’m trained for this. What do I do next?” When you’re embedded in a school district, I can see how this is even harder. You know the staff member or the family or the student involved. You are going to see, first-hand, how the people in your community are going to be impacted by this tragedy.
How do we deal with these types of events? I can’t give you a step-by-step playbook because every situation is different. But I do have a Communications Toolbox PDF, to help you get a handle on all the ways you can communicate during a time of tragedy (hint: social media is NOT the first place to communicate.)?
It’s also helpful to have policies in place in anticipation of these kinds of events. Never post anything on social media without family consent. You do not want social media to be the place where their loved ones first hear about a tragedy.?
To help you navigate these tricky waters, I encourage you to lean on other people, especially your fellow school communicators. I do this when tragedies happen because sometimes my mind isn’t quite right. That’s why I love the community we have in School PR: We share a lot of resources and support each other.?
There is a new and completely free community to help support one another. You can join it now on Facebook – The K12 School PR and Communications Community. All are welcome – public schools, private schools, companies that serve schools, and more.
From a mental health standpoint, I encourage you to embrace resources like this one – 10 Practical Tips to Avoid Burnout in School PR, seek professional help when necessary, and learn from others’ mental health journeys, like my own struggles with anxiety and depression.?
That’s heavy. I feel for you, and I believe this is the toughest part of our jobs.
#2: I Hate Posting Something When My Gut Tells Me It’s Not a Good Idea
Have you ever been asked to post something by a higher-up – your boss, the school board, your school administrator – even though you knew, deep down, that it wasn’t a good idea? Or perhaps you posted something that you didn’t think was going to be controversial, but it unexpectedly blew up with a ton of negative comments??
When we post something on social media, we’re inviting the whole world to offer input. Social media algorithms favor engagement, and the platforms will give your post greater reach if it is receiving tons of comments.?
Most of the time, this is great! I love hearing about posts that go viral for all the right reasons! But when it’s something divisive, you risk getting pushback that’s multiplied by keyboard warriors piling on with negativity.?
What I hate the most about this is that we don’t always have a choice in the matter. We all have a boss. I’m self-employed – but for the schools that contract us to run their social media, they have the final say over what gets posted. I can advise them against it all day long, but we sometimes get an adamant school board member or administrator who says, “Nope, this needs to get posted.”
What can you do in these situations? The first line of defense is offering practical reasons why it’s not a good idea to post something on social media. Talk about the other ways you have to communicate the news, such as direct communication with families via email or text, and remind administrators that you’re opening your school up to negative comments and feedback, even from outside your community.?
If that doesn’t work, suggest waiting a bit before posting. I’ve been able to talk administrators off the ledge by pointing out that it’s a Friday before a holiday weekend, and it was going to take a lot of work to monitor comments over the weekend, so we agreed to wait until school was back in session on the following Tuesday.?
If the post is still going to have to go up, you do have options to limit comments on posts. Here’s how to do it on Facebook and here’s how to do it on Instagram. Spammy comments/bots can also be controlled; see this video for a quick walk-through.
But be warned: Turning off comments on a post can also stir up controversy. People don’t like it when they feel like they’re being censored. If you want to remove comments that have already been made, you need to consult your legal team about it – I don’t want you to get in trouble from an open records standpoint.
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Of course, if the person is violating your official commenting guidelines by threatening a staff member or making accusations about a student, you can act because it’s laid out in your guidelines. But it still sucks to be in this position as a school social media manager because even though you knew it was a bad idea, you’re the one having to deal with all the comments!!
#3: I Hate When People Notice That Comments Are Hidden
If you’re using one of the engagement moderation tools mentioned above to help limit comments on your page, you’re probably going to run into this pet peeve of mine, too: When someone comments, “Why is my comment hidden?” or “Where did my comment go?”?
When you “hide” a comment on social media, the commenter does not know that this has happened. They can still see their own comment. But if they look at the post from someone else’s account, they will notice that their comment is not showing.?
When this happens, it gives me major anxiety! All of a sudden, people think that the school is trying to hide something or censor speech.
What can we do about this? Having good social media guidelines published on your social media accounts and/or website helps you ground yourself in how you’ll monitor comments.?If you’re simply following the guidelines that have been laid out, you can be confident in your decision to keep those comments hidden.?
As for the person who is upset, it’s up to you if you’re going to ignore them, respond to them briefly about why their comment was hidden (this risks getting into a commenting war), or reach out to them offline if it’s someone in your community that you or someone in your school knows. We have utilized all of these options and have found success and challenges with each. Your School PR network will again be a helpful connection because each situation is unique.
#4: I Hate How Complicated Meta Can Be
Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, but because it’s a free platform, there is no 1-800-FACEBOOK hotline that we can call for help!! Yes, you can pay to have “better support” if you subscribe to Meta Verified – but the jury is still out if this is worthwhile.?
I hate that I can’t pick up the phone and call Meta when someone loses access to a page or a feature isn’t working. I receive emails almost weekly from people trying to get access to a page where they have no idea who the admin is, or an admin may have removed themselves too soon. It’s a mess!
What can you do when Meta is frustrating? I don’t have the space to troubleshoot every possible scenario in this blog, but we talk about these issues frequently inside my membership group. Just recently, I helped a new member get proper access to her page without using a fake Facebook profile (which a lawyer had advised them to do…!)
While I don’t know everything, I have gotten a ton of training, and I know enough to be dangerous. My Director of Membership also works diligently to help every member get the support they need. Plus, the big network of peers within our membership group vastly increases your chances of connecting with someone who has faced something similar and can help you out.
#5: I Hate When Social Media Disrupts My Family Time
The fifth thing I hate about my role in school social media is when any of these issues occur when I’m trying to spend time with my family.?
We all know social media never sleeps; it’s a 24/7 operation. When things happen, response time is crucial. The quicker we can handle issues, the better! However, it becomes particularly challenging when you’re trying to be present with your family and suddenly need to step away.?
Fortunately, my family understands, and these emergencies don’t happen every day. But when they do, and it’s during family time, it’s incredibly frustrating.?
How can we minimize the interruptions outside of working hours? We should all?have backup support within our school district so that we’re not shouldering the burden alone. Plus, every social media account should have multiple people who have admin access.?
At the end of the day, interruptions also just come with the territory of our jobs.
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Whew, this was a heavy topic today. I’d love to get your feedback in the comments of this blog, or you can tweet me at @andreagribble with the thing YOU hate most about your job!
As a school social media manager, I know you’re pulled in a million directions every single day. You don’t have time to research every new social media trend or figure out how to do everything from scratch. That’s why I created the Social Media Crew for Schools membership program.
Created specifically with you in mind, this program is designed to help you:
Ready to stop feeling overwhelmed by social media? Ready to master it, with a community of your peers at your side? Join my membership today!