1. 1. Your Digital Life as a New Resident Director Social media skills for new RDs Inspired by survey results from current housing professionals Collected & analyzed by Dr. Josie Ahlquist
2. 2. Twitter Convo #SAsome @josieahlquist
3. 3. Congratulations! You have a new job A new apartment So what does this mean for your digital life?
4. 4. Results from 73 housing professionals about being a resident director and key considerations about your digital life
5. 5. Major themes A privacy wake up call Time to get professional Its ok to interact with students Making digital decisions Focus on building community online
6. 6. #reslife Community
7. 7. Years in the Field 4-6 Years 1-3 Years 7-10 Years +15 Years 11-15 Years
8. 8. Theme #1: A privacy wake up call
9. 9. Privacy wake up call Privacy is an illusion. You may think your account is private and have set up all the privacy settings possible. It always gets back to your boss one way or another. Think before you post. A Resident Director has minimal privacy and student access to social media postings may only complicate the personal/professional boundaries.
10. 10. I'm noticing professional branding as a bit of an issue with my RD staff. They want to be seen as professional but do not seem to be able to make the connection between how talk, behave, post, etc. impacts their professional persona. Additionally, they seem well versed in talking to students about appropriate social media behavior, but don't always seem to walk the talk.
11. 11. Theme #2: Time to go #SApro
12. 12. As a professional, you have a responsibility of building your own brand, what you stand for and what you support through your online activity. Regardless of who you allow to follow you or type of account you have, always know that at any point, what you put out there, may BE OUT THERE for all to see, regardless of your intent and account safe guards. Time to go #SApro
13. 13. How did you learn to use social media professionally?
14. 14. Tweet-able #SApro Advice
15. 15. Don't post anything that you wouldn't want your boss to see (even if they don't follow you). Your professional identity needs to be reflected in your social media identity. Remember all the warnings about minding what you say in elevators at placement exchanges? The same holds true for Twitter.
16. 16. Theme #3: Interact with Students
17. 17. Interact with Students (with healthy boundaries) Don't be afraid to be friends with your students online as it helps them ultimately feel more comfortable with you as a person. Help students understand what their online presence can do both bad/good in their actual life.
18. 18. I believe my social media presence is important to my relationship with students. If I want to get to know a student, I should be willing to let the student get to know me; and that involves opening the door to social media connections.
19. 19. Social media philosophy with students Friend requests from students No social media with students Other
20. 20. Challenges with students on Social Media Once per year Monthly Once per Semester
21. 21. Tweet-able #SApro Advice
22. 22. The question isn't if you should be on social media, it should be how you decide to use it. Our students use it daily and we are missing out on a huge opportunity to interact with them if we neglect to utilize this powerful tool. Don't be afraid to connect with students via social media. If you are comfortable communicating with them face to face, then you should be comfortable communicating with them online. Treat the online interaction as you would a face to face interaction. -Greg Bowers
23. 23. We need to not be afraid to interact with students on social media. There are healthy ways to set boundaries without needing to create a ghost account. -Kathryn Magura @kmagura
24. 24. Theme #4: Digital decisions with ethics & authenticity
25. 25. I inform my students that I am happy to connect with them if they wish to add me, however that it's their responsibility to make sure that they're conveying a positive presence, particularly if they wish to connect with me. I will not request students (generally Resident Assistants), but if they reach out to me, I will accept. I do generally like to have a quick conversation-either in person on by message about the fact that I can now see what they post and to remember they reached out to me. Digital Decisions with Ethics & Authenticity
26. 26. I accept FB requests from all students, but categorize them into a limited viewing capability so that my personal posts are not seen by them. They can no longer be students at my institution. I inform my students that I am happy to connect with them if they wish to add me, however that it's their responsibility to make sure that they're conveying a positive presence, particularly if they wish to connect with me.
27. 27. If they want to connect with me, I accept since I don't have anything to hide but I don't want to assume they're comfortable with it. I'd assume they'd feel obligated to accept any of my requests, so I tend to wait for their request to me since it means they want to connect. I appreciate being able to help celebrate their successes that they share online, which is a big part of the decision to connect. My overall questions to myself are: What is the worst thing that could happen? Is it worth going through that just to avoid the temporary awkwardness of addressing a friend request denial? If I'm struggling with my answer, I take the cautious route and go with no.
28. 28. -If they are my staff members, I will accept them without hesitation, explain my expectations off the bat, and address any issues that arise. -For other students, I base it off of the rapport I have built with them, and my trust that they understand my boundaries. I more often will deny a student through Facebook, but instead connect with them on Twitter or Linked In.
29. 29. Your social media presence should be an authentic representation of who you are as a professional and person. While no platform is a completely accurate representation of the complexities that are a part of every person there should be consistencies in your portrayal so be authentic and professional as you engage with others. Don't limit your social media to #studentaffairs or #reslife solely. You are an RD, but there's more to you than that and your colleagues/friends/students will want to see that.
30. 30. If you aren't the same person in real life as you are in social media, then you're doing it wrong. @JoshuaTepps
31. 31. Social media philosophy with #reslife colleagues Connect with housing colleagues on social media
32. 32. #SApro Facebook Friends
33. 33. #SApro Instagram Followers
34. 34. #SApro Twitter Followers
35. 35. Social Media training in Residence Life
36. 36. {New} RDs need to be trained, socialized &/or educated on: 1. Community Building 2. Technology & Student Development 3. Digital Conflict Resolution Skills 4. Professional Branding 5. Social Media Strategy
37. 37. Theme #4: Build Community Online
38. 38. A topic on community building with online tools has the potential to be so powerful. Online communities do "community building. We HAVE to be able to translate that in the residence halls! There is a need for professionals to understand how social media impacts our ability to build community. Social media is merely an extension of all of our real, physical communities now. Build Community Online
39. 39. Social media has become an extension of the actual, physical communities that exist on our campus. We should be training our student and graduate students how to capitalize on this very important community building tool. Embrace social media as a powerful tool to share information, celebrate successes, and create community with students as well as families. It's a valuable and highly accessible platform to engage with.
40. 40. Your identity on social media should be a reflection of your identity in real life. The closer these two identities align, the greater the trust you can build with students who have access to both. Technology is a tool. How we use or abuse it determines it's effects on our communities. Therefore, we must teach about technology just as we would any other substance or tool.
41. 41. Wish List for Resident Directors all educators really Be an ethical & authentic digital role model Reflect on & apply a digital decision making model to your practice Integrate your whole self in-person & online Seek out skills for community building methods through technology
42. 42. Be part of this research! Go to http://bit.ly/RDdigitalWishList Email info@josieahlquist.com Tweet out #SAsome
43. 43. www.josieahlquist.com info@josieahlquist.com @josieahlquist /josieahlquist/