3 Things You Need to Avoid on Your School Twitter Account

The landscape of school communication has changed, with social media swiftly becoming the platform of choice for disseminating information and communicating with parents, stakeholders, and the community. Building a social media presence is crucial for the modern school, and their Twitter profile is a great platform for spreading goods news about their work and pupils.

There are dangers, however, that if encountered could cause your school to face a considerable backlash. In this blog, we examine three crucial things that you need to avoid on your school’s Twitter account.

#1 — Responding to Negativity Aimed at Your School

Social media is a space where users share their thoughts, opinions, and grievances, and due to the instantaneous nature of posting a message, they can often be fuelled by emotion and sent without careful thought. When someone criticises your school, teachers, or the performance of your pupils, it is only natural that you want to offer a defence or mitigation. However, social media is not the platform to do this.

In many cases, the aim of the disparaging comments is to provoke a reaction, cause a stir, and generally create a story. If no one responds to the remarks, they are just another post on social media that is forgotten about almost immediately. But, if someone from the school or the school itself does respond or react, it can spark a back and forth that rarely leads to a peaceful or dignified ending, as well as a PR incident that causes lasting damage.

No matter how false, fictitious, or hurtful online comments are, they are only validated by a response. Consigning them to the past is the most effective way to minimise their impact and avoid any controversy.

#2 — Personally Identifying Anyone under the Age of 18 without Consent

As a school, it is inevitable that many of your tweets will include reference to the work and achievements of your pupils, and some of the best content is produced by sharing success stories and images of great work. However, you must be vigilant in regard to the content and information you share.

If you post an image or video on social media that depicts anyone under the age of 18, you must not only have their consent to do so, but also express permission from their parents. In gaining consent, you must also specify in what context the image or video is being shared, and to what audience.

Alongside the issue of consent, thought should also be given to safeguarding and the wellbeing of your pupils. For example, when discussing an upcoming school trip, you should not share revealing details about the exact time, date, or location of the children. Tweets that do reveal such information make pupils easy to track, which poses a potentially serious risk to their safety.

#3 — Tweeting About Topics Not Directly Related to School or Education

While it can be very tempting to tweet about popular topics that may be the focus of everyday conversation, these types of tweets should be saved for your personal account.

The primary focus of your school’s Twitter account should always be education; whether in the form of posts about your school’s activities or comment on the latest changes announced by the Department of Education. Your audience are following you for updates about your school, and posts about other topics often appear frivolous and suggest your focus is not in the right place.

When it comes to trends and hashtags, schools getting involved can experience increased exposure and engagement with their posts. Although the trend’s origin may not relate to education or your school, if you post about it, you should make sure your tweet puts an educational spin on the hashtag to keep your message on-brand.

“So What Can I Tweet About?”

There’s many different things your school can post about on Twitter, and it’s important to remember that your followers are actively waiting to consume information and updates about your school. If you are still in need of inspiration, take a look at our blog ‘3 Easy Topics Your School Should Absolutely be Tweeting About’.

Become a Social Media Expert

Running your school’s social media account can be daunting, but with the right knowledge and understanding, you can garner a strong following and make your Twitter account the envy of the education industry. If you would like some guidance on running your Twitter account, send us a message.