Hi there, and welcome back to this article. Last week we looked at Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Google+.

The list doesn't end there! So, let's continue on from where we left it...

Within this blog post, we hope to show you a candid view into how we, two 16 and 17 year old teenage girls, living in the South East of England, view social media and how it is used by us and our friends.

Intro

The majority of teenagers in our modern world today use social media and it plays a huge role in their daily lives. On the other hand, the way in which they use social media greatly differs to the way in which most adults utilise social media, in both the sites that they choose to go on and the way in which they use them. 

Most teens use social media as a means of communicating with friends, whether that be through sending a Snapchat using the bee filter, so their voice seems to have jumped 3 octaves higher, or by posting a ‘candid’ photo on Instagram which only took 20 tries to get. For this reason, teenagers generally prefer different forms of social media to adults, as they try to communicate using the social media platforms, which are fun, quick and easy to use. This therefore explains Snapchat's increasing popularity amongst teens because it is instantaneous and amusing to mess around with, whilst Facebook is being used less and less by teens as they can get more visual, safer experiences elsewhere, without their mum commenting on every single photo that they are tagged in. 

There are many preconceptions linked with how teenagers use social media channels, from the expectation that teenagers are deprived and send inappropriate photos to each other over Snapchat or that they harass adults on Facebook for expressing what teens believe are ‘outdated’ opinions. Even within the social group of teenagers there are stereotypes attached with how we use social media. For example, when going through Facebook or Instagram, every 15-18 year old is dreading the inevitable encounter with a ‘Twelvie’, that one friend everyone has who is twelve and thinks they are the coolest person in the world. They regularly post pictures of themselves with the caption ‘I didn’t choose the thug life, the thug life chose me’. The pictures tend to consist of poses which cause scorn and second hand embarrassment from the older teenagers, mainly because they remember a time when they thought that was a cool thing to do. 

Likewise, even within the older branch of teens, we dread running into that one friend who has very strong opinions and is not afraid of saying them, whether that be through a post on Instagram with a caption a mile long or 100+ seconds on a Snapchat story ranting about some injustice they encountered that they just had to mention. This became particularly prevalent in the lead up to and the aftermath of the EU Referendum…#Brexit. Certainly in our school common room, you couldn’t go five minutes before someone closed their apps and locked their phones in disgust, professing that ‘Suddenly everyone’s a politician’.

Most Popular Types of Social Media in the UK (In Order of Popularity) and How We Use Them:

At @intSchools we promote one core ideal for you to integrate into your school's marketing: ✨STAND OUT✨. We see, day-in and day-out, so many of the key marketing tools employed by schools failing to live up to this simple mantra. Chief among these are the school website.

Now imagine you are a parent, looking for something that really speaks to them - the place they want to send their child to gain an education. If your site looks like any of the above the likelihood is they will skim right past it. 

The Head's Welcome

Let's focus on one change that really can make a huge difference when employed properly. Yep, you guessed it: the Head's Welcome. 

This is often one of the first pages that new visitors to your site will visit - or are directed to. So when we saw this article from TES we were shocked to see that so often what should be a really good, engaging Head's Welcome is lost in a world of 'same'.

This just will not do! It is so important to ensure that it is as good as it possibly can be - it should reflect the school's brand as well as the personality of the Head. In fact, we would say that of all the pages on your school's website this is the one that you can inflect real human-to-human engagement. 

Take a look at your Head's Welcome page. Notice the language used. Now tick off each word from the image below. How many are in there? 1? 2? 5? All of them? It's no surprise - this is the type of language that has been synonymous with schools for a long time. Let's be fair, every school is keen to highlight that they have high standards of excellence; that they achieve outstanding results; and are the best at what they do. School's are always proud of their pupils, who leave with strong and confident personalities; and school's are, of course, rich in learning; an exciting place to study; and a safe haven to develop in.

Happy #BackToSchool time everyone!!! Yes, it's the new academic year and you might just be wondering what social media breakthroughs have crept up on you over the summer holidays. 

Here is our handy summary of the social media you should be on RIGHT NOW, or at least getting very excited for! So...where shall we begin?

STATS!

Yes, statistics. We all love them - don't lie. These numbers and facts help us to see the reality of how entities such as social media effects us. More importantly they offer guidance in where your school should be driving its social media marketing strategy.

Overall

It is no uncommon site to see a blog post with 5 of the best this or 25 amazing thats. Books are no exception to this. Just Google '5 best books for ...' (enter anything) and there will be a host of lists devised by experts, fans and bibliophiles. To this end, putting together a list of the best social media books is a nearly impossible task. It would mean having read every book on social media in existence and taking everyones' preference into account. 

Instead we have listed 5 books from some of our social media heroes. These are the leaders we look to for inspiration, when defining our social media presence, and are among some of the most talented marketers to grace the digital, and physical, realms. 

So, in no particular order.

The internet is a wonderful place for children to learn and keep in touch with loved ones, but there’s always threats that are difficult to protect them from. We spoke to Rosalind Brookman of Broadband Genie about some of the steps we can take to help keep children safe online.

Online safety in schools

Technology is now an important part of a student’s learning experience, both at school and at home. Along with the many positives that this can bring, however, it also creates many areas of concern around exactly what students may be able to access.

Schools can ensure that their own devices are rendered safe for pupil use, by equipping their IT network with the correct filters and monitoring systems to prevent inappropriate content being viewed and which will flag up any concerns but students’ personal smartphones and tablets present a trickier problem.

Encouraging thoughtful online behaviour

Monitoring or removing personal devices from students is not an effective answer to keeping them safe on the internet. Pro-actively teaching them to demonstrate positive online behaviour is more likely to protect them in the long run and is something that can be incorporated throughout all aspects of the curriculum, not just during IT lessons.

Pupils should be helped to identify the boundaries (including the legal implications that could arise from inappropriate online actions) they should adhere to in terms of good internet practices and the consequences outlined in school policy if they deliberately overstep them. For their own safety they need to understand the potential ramifications of posting personal information online and can be reminded that their mobile devices should not be left lying around so that others can access their private data.

Preventing cyberbullying

All schools should already have a tough anti-bullying policy in place, and it is vital that the whole student body is clear that this includes a zero tolerance approach to all forms of online harassment, or cyberbullying, as well. Students might receive threats of physical abuse or psychological intimidation; or the humiliation of somebody posting unwanted photos or derogatory messages on social networking sites. With practically everybody owning some sort of mobile device nowadays cyberbullying can become a continuous and inescapable pressure for its victims.

Teachers need to be vigilant for signs that a child is being bullied online: withdrawal from classroom interactions or social activities, the sudden drop in standards of school work, drastic changes in appearance or personality, signs of depression or self-harm and a greater obsession with checking their mobile device, followed by extreme behaviours could all point to potential cyberbullying.

There should be a transparent and robust strategy in place for those who are victims of cyberbullying. Teachers need to ensure their pupils know that any worries they have around this issue will always be taken seriously and that there is a defined action plan that can be used to help them deal with it. They should be advised to keep any evidence that they are being bullied (take screen shots etc.) and to report abuse via the specific buttons on their social media accounts as well as to a trusted adult. School can provide an anonymous drop box, email address or hotline for this if necessary. 

Technology is a huge asset to education and a stimulating motivational tool for schools. A forward thinking teaching structure, along with support from parents at home, can help to foster a positive and confident online school community as well as creating a safe pathway for children to explore and assertively resolve issues around negative conduct.