One of my interests is to explore the current policy landscape of social media and schools. I'm interested in working on a literature review that identifies the relevant policy actors, describes the formal social media policies at the federal, state, and local level, and the pertinent research and theory that addresses these topics. The hope is to have an annotated bibliography and a paper that I can submit to upcoming conferences. So where to begin?
I decided to start at the Federal Level. I know that most education policy happenes at the state level, but I figured there had to be something. When you go to the U.S. Department of Education Website it doesn't take long for you to find references to the department and the individuals social media presence, but the difficult part is finding their stance, regulations, and expectations for the use of social media.
The list of social media links is rather broad:
https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/social-media.html
The only policy social media related that I have been able to find is the following:
"ED is using third-party social media sites to provide ED content in formats that may be useful or interesting; however, ED.gov is the official source of information from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). ED cannot attest to the accuracy of other information provided by these or any other linked sites. Using these third-party sites does not constitute an endorsement by ED or any of its employees of the sponsors of the sites or the information or products presented on the sites. Also, please be aware that the privacy protection provided at ED.gov may not be available on these third-party sites. Please note that when ED uses social media sites, ED does not collect or in any way use personally identifiable information."
https://www2.ed.gov/notices/privacy/index.html#social-media
SO again I ask: Where's the policy?
Sounds like you're headed to a critical journey! Your paper would definitely make a contribution to answering your question. Also, your post reminded me of an article that I've come across once (https://bit.ly/3gtkFJo). Just wanted to share it here! I'm not sure whether it's relevant to your question, though. Keep informing us about policies! Definitely adds layer to my approach..
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a ground-breaking paper that you're working on! I don't know much (or anything really) about government policy but I wonder if there even is any theory behind how these different branches of government use social media? I would assume that they follow the same guidelines as businesses.
ReplyDelete