Unit 3 Reflection - Social Media in the ELA Classroom

 Social Media.. Does it have a place? 

Yes and no. 

Well, to be honest, i don't like social media very much. I actually find to be a very toxic and harmful environment, but i do see the value in it sometimes. I know that for the world around me social media will always be there, that's just how the world is today. So, because of that i have to find ways to include it in my classroom, even if i, myself, am not a fan of it. 

To be honest, i think a blog like the one I'm using now is way more insightful and useful to a classroom than social media like tiktok and instagram is, because a blog is mostly writing, and is very personal, whole on bigger social medias you have to have some sort of character, or signature to get popular and grow. Social media is a job now, and it isn't really seen as a tool to be social anymore. Its seen as a way to promote business, spread messages political or non political, to share your art and open commissions through, and so much more. But at the end of the day, the goal of social media is to get big. 

Blogs, to me, are just for sharing thoughts and feelings. No one ever talks about "oh one day my blog is going to get so popular!" Because of this, i feel like its a better educational tool, and can be used for classmates to share and discuss without having to actually talk face to face, and is very easy for a teacher to navigate through and make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to do. 

So blogs, great! 

Tiktok, no. 

Yes, I hate tiktok, and I'm not afraid to say it, but- 

I do think it would be a really fun opening project! 

I love the idea of students picking a book that's recommended to them a lot on tiktok, reading it, and then rating how well tiktok did at picking a book for them, if they would recommend it to people, and who they would recommend it too. 

I do love that tiktok is inspiring people to read again, but books that get popular on booktok have a reputation of being very.. poor in quality. And i can vouch for that, because i know for a fact a lot of the books I've read that got popular on tiktok i find very problematic and gross, and i would want my students to see if they notice that too, and maybe we can open up a discussion about what a good book is, and how authors handle certain topics, and if they do it well. 

I would want to take the bad of booktok, and turn it into something good! 

What do I like better than tiktok then?

Youtube is a much better place for book communities because of the vast verity of people posting about books. You see a lot of men, people of color, women, gender nonconforming, and people of all walks of life talking about books, while on tiktok i feel like i see mostly white women discussing books. From youtube i've found my new favorite queer author, books written by indigenous people that left me floored with how beautifully written and fascinating they were, it allowed me to find books by women that weren't romance novels, and i truly feel that there is way more verity on youtube than their is tiktok, and because the videos are longer you get more information without spoilers, allowing for trigger and content warnings, longer discussions into certain topics, and just more communication in general. 

I also find that youtube is more welcoming to new readers as well. 

Here are some of my favorite videos that gave me great book recommendations that i wish to share with you all that have just enough information without spoiling the books, and i would totally use them in my classroom as well! 

Nonfiction Recommendations: 

https://youtu.be/RPWvgmGxUTA?si=iAYmQqTPBWEvPX2u

Horror/Thriller Recommendations:

https://youtu.be/Bjmt2lyMV04?si=t67YEl-1wujNDGeQ

Fantasy Recommendations: 

https://youtu.be/a-ujlFOwRDY?si=GPKUMTksfoKkbc8_

LGBTQ+ Recommendations: 

https://youtu.be/2XDGINNtJFk?si=QlGoklVsZZJt4n7y

Books written by Indigenous Authors Recommendations: 

https://youtu.be/0QK5jSQ3loY?si=n03_aUEtMD5_qP4B

Books written by African American Authors Recommendations: 

https://youtu.be/2PIOA2KltiI?si=aGhj94MIC-Oxg6vO

I hope you loved these videos as much as i did, and I'll see you the next time i write!