Twitter – Seoul Learning

OLJ Task 14: Areas of Concern (Module 5)

Lately I’ve been wondering about attribution on social media and platforms. It came about as I was discussing with a colleague whether we should give attribution to a certain image on a Libguide. Should we? Shouldn’t we? It is SO MUCH work to attribute every little thing! That made me think of social media and the millions of images, memes, gifs and videos that are posted daily. I then saw Meese and Hagedorn’s (2019) article listed in Module 5. The word “mundane” caught my eye. Most of our posted content really is mundane…does this mean we should be ignoring the issue of attribution? Does it really matter?

According to Meese and Hagedorn (2019, p. 1), it does. However, it appears our legal framework around copyright is unable to keep up with the ever changing nature of social media (Meese & Hagedorn, 2019, p. 1). It was interesting to read that in some fandom and creative online communities, contributors at the grassroots level have discussed and agreed upon attribution issues (Meese & Hagedorn, 2019, p. 1). It appears online communities are working at a very democratic, decentralised level, however it remains that most of us could fall foul of our current legal system even with a simple repost (Meese & Hagedorn, 2019, p. 3). I found it ironic to realise that social media is set up to increase our level of sharing, but this potentially exposes us to more infringement (Tan, 2018, as cited in Meese & Hagedorn, 2019, p. 4). I had never thought of this before.

Rather than being ‘mundane’, Meese and Hagedorn’s (2019) article got me thinking. How will I go about modelling correct attribution as a newbie TL next year? Do I need to pay more attention to Terms of Use/Service statements? Should I be exploring ways to attribute when I start my library’s Instagram or Twitter account? How can I address this with students who will immediately roll their eyes if I mention ‘copyright’ and ‘social media’ in the same sentence? I don’t have any answers yet, but in looking for them, I stumbled across the case study of Sam Groome and the “$12,000 tweet” (Hickman, 2021, p. 3). It gave me lots to think about!

Word count: 368

References

Hickman, B. (2020). The $12,000 tweet: A collision at the intersection of social media and copyright law. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 24(2), 3-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458920964851

Meese, J., & Hagedorn, J. (2019). Mundane content on social media: Creation, circulation, and the copyright problem. Social Media + Society, 5(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119839190

To Tweet or not to Tweet?

Figure 1. Twitter flock. Note. From Twitter flock. GK, R. (2014, February 22). Flickr. GK, R. (2014, February 22). Rodney GK’s Magical Forest. https://rodneygk.tumblr.com/post/77511036587/twitter-flock

Undertaking the OLJ 10 Twitter Feeds task was excellent for me as it made me really concentrate on the content and style of tweets, when previously I had just read them quickly. My scenario for Assignment 1 was a high school library wanting to promote its services to the students. I was able to take this as a “real life” situation and apply it to my own high school. I chose Instagram for my platform, as the students said that none of them use Twitter and they would prefer to receive information/promotions via Instagram. However, having taken a deeper dive into Twitter, I wish we could use this. I am new to both social media platforms, and I do love Forest Hill College Library’s reels, as well as the reels from Middle Grade Mavens (these school librarians are obviously passionate and funny as well). However, Twitter seems more “newsy” and “professional”.

I know that it might be silly to even think this, as obviously in order to reach students, we need to use what they do. But then I thought – well, we ask them to use all sorts of platforms for school – actually we REQUIRE them to do so – Google Classroom, class/group Google Chat, Flipgrid, Jamboard, Padlet and many more. Would it be possible for us to require them to use Twitter – for school promotion and information? I know in reality this wouldn’t happen (in our current school situation). But I’m wondering if it could be done…as part of the first day of Grade 10 school scenario, “Ok, kids, let’s sign up and log in to all the platforms you’ll need….”

PS. Dear reader, please comment, I’d love to hear from you about what platform you use if you work in a school library!

References

Fhclibrary. (2022, May 1). So you think reading is boring? [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc_nGIJg2YY/

GK, R. (2014, February 22). Twitter flock [Image]. Rodney GK’s Magical Forest. https://rodneygk.tumblr.com/post/77511036587/twitter-flock

Middle Grade Mavens [@julieannegrassobooks]. (2022, May 2). Actual sound my body makes when running! Know what I’m saying? [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CdChEUUBFCm/

OLJ Task 10: Twitter Feeds (Module 4)

I’m still learning about Twitter, so it has been interesting to compare and contrast the Twitter presence of the National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) and UNESCO. I found myself really ‘looking’, rather than just scrolling quickly through tweets.

NLNZ (n.d) has had a Twitter presence since 2008, and is currently updated by mainly one person, a“Mary Hay” (she has a big job!) Thus far, NLNZ (n.d) has 16.2K tweets, whilst UNESCO (n.d) has put out 33.5K tweets since its joining in 2009. I would expect that UNESCO would have more staff updating its feed as it is a much larger organisation than the NLNZ. In light of this, I think that NLNZ is quite prolific, although both post very regularly, which is necessary to maintain an active presence (Hursh, 2022). NLNZ would cater to a more specific audience, those mostly in NZ who have personal and/or professional connection to libraries and who value their information disseminated via Twitter. Currently, NLNZ (n.d) has 15.5K followers. As a supranational organization, UNESCO has a much broader remit, which is to support education, science and culture worldwide. Thus, it is not surprising that it has 3.5 million Twitter followers (UNESCO, n.d).

NLNZ tweet about events they host, or are connected with. For example, highlighting an evening of poetry or a promotion of Comic Fest 2022 (see below).

Figure 1. Adventure! Mystery! Monsters! Note. From Adventure! Mystery! Monsters! NZNL. (2022, May 2). Twitter. https://twitter.com/NLNZ/status/1520916118713602048

They also post photographs of the historical resources they have and their tweets often promote the Māori language (see below). Retweets are from other information centres such as NLNZ’s sister site Libraries & Learning.

Figure 2. Māori and Pacific and other Great War Stories. Note. From Māori and Pacific and other Great War Stories. National Library New Zealand [@NZNL]. (2022, April 25). Twitter. https://twitter.com/NLNZ/status/1518439736674824198

UNESCO has a much wider range of posts, appealing to anyone who is interested in the UN’s work in areas of culture, science and education. The posts are informative and educational. International Days are celebrated, for example, promoting Jazz Day (April 30th) and Girls in ICT Day (April 28th).

Pertinent information and new research is highlighted, for example, this retweet below in regards to the new Global Education Monitoring Report : Gender. Tweets may highlight a new UNESCO heritage site or draw attention to human rights abuses.

Figure 3. Global Education Monitoring Report: Gender Note. From Global Education Monitoring Report: Gender. UNESCO. (2022). Twitter. https://twitter.com/UNESCO.

UNESCO’s Twitter feed feels more global and less focused than the NLNZ feed does. I would feel slightly overwhelmed if I did not know what I was specifically looking for. However, I would guess that UNESCO’s feed is very successful with 3.5 million followers, although I did notice that followers do not retweet UNESCO tweets in a large number.

References

Hursh, A. (2022). The 2022 guide to social media for libraries: Twitter. Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion. https://superlibrarymarketing.com/2021/12/20/twitterforlibraries2022/

Libraries & Learning, [@L2_S2S] (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved May 4, 2022 from https://twitter.com/L2_S2S

National Library of New Zealand, [@NLNZ] (n.d). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved May 2, 2022 from https://twitter.com/NLNZ

National Library New Zealand [@NZNL]. (2022, April 25). Maori and Pacific and other Great War Stories. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NLNZ/status/1518439736674824198

National Library of New Zealand [@NLNZ]. (2022, May 2). Adventure! Mystery! Monsters! @MrJonathanKing chats about his first ever graphic novel The Inkberg Enigma. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NLNZ/status/1520916118713602048

UNESCO, [@UNESCO] (n.d). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved May 2, 2022 from https://twitter.com/UNESCO

UNESCO [@GEMReport]. (2022, April 27). Just released: Download and read the 2022 @GEMReport Gender Report: Deepening the debate on those still left behind. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/GEMReport/status/1519265553478733824