I feel like we are all shouting from the rooftops. “Over Here!”
As the social media delegate (no name yet for the position; but, as a school librarian, I feel responsible to be the hub of the school) for my campus, I can observe the goings-on as “the Ethridge Eagle” and not as “me”.
Let me clarify the personas:
The Ethridge Eagle: I choose to use the profile pic of the school mascot as the voice of the school. Some librarians have their own library Facebook page, but the way I see it…if the library is the “hub” -why have a second page that is separate? I mean, the voice of the school is not about me but about the whole school.
Me: Who am I? I am a wife, mother, librarian, scholar, citizen, life-long learner, hiker and so on.
So does that “me” have a social media presence? Only an obligatory one. The wife and mother is a private thing. The librarian/scholar is the public me. Hence—- Valibrarian is my public voice.
How have I handled these various voices? It is no secret (since whatever you put online is pretty much forever) that I am not a fan of Facebook. I am beginning to understand that one of my reasons for disliking Facebook is the difficulty in speaking with so many different voices. Wait– isn’t that what we do when we speak in different languages? If I am going to speak in different voices, I need to develop the perspective of one who speaks in many languages. I need to practice thinking in different voices and clarifying the words I need to translate before speaking.
On the other hand, translation of language is not really the same as speaking with a different voice to a different audience. The point of language translation is to keep the voice as close as possible with the same context and connotation. I speak to my young nieces in a different voice than I speak to my co-workers and colleagues. Sharing personal photos and anecdotes to every significant person in my life, simultaneously, seems to me to be bombarding their spheres of information intake with even more clutter than they must already face each day. When I post to everyone, I am shouting from the rooftop, “Over Here! Look at me! I have something to say.”
Just sayin’