Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

As Jim Knight, Minister for Employment  was tweeting from the House of Commons as candidates for the Speaker’s position were making their speeches, other public servants and employees were increasingly being banned from using social networking.

In Plymouth, Barry Keel, the Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council, banned democratically elected councillors from using Twitter. The email stated that he had received complaints from Council staff and members of the public about the use of inappropriate language and comments on social networking sites, and as a result had asked for “an immediate and urgent review of policies and procedures on the use of information technology and social networking sites”. He goes on to say that he has decided to “limit access” to Twitter to just their “Corporate Communications Team”.

According to the Daily Mail, Kent have gone further than Argyle and Bute, in “telling’ their teachers and other staff in their schools to close any Facebook, MySpace, Bebo or Twitter accounts they might have, although the actual wording in the letter states, “I would urge and recommend and individual member of staff to either close any personal accounts or secure them (not a reliable option) to safeguard themselves against future hacking or abuse.”

In previous posts I stated my views on both the transparency of information and personal liberty issues. Simply put, just because individuals whether children or adults, have not yet gained a sense of ‘appropriateness’ when using social media, does not mean you ban or impose restrictions. Instead, you support individual’s understanding of the issues through education and training. It is only then, when people have had the chance to think about potential consequences, can you impose sanctions for breaking procedures or rules.

In the wider sense, the way in which institutions can ‘control’ its outward face through “corporate communication teams” is fast fading and other strategies need to be adopted. Viewing Twitter as just another traditional media channel, that can be used by your communication department to broadcast to the world shows a serious lack of understanding about the social networking phenomenon. Perhaps more seriously, painting social networking sites as ‘no-go areas’ for teachers and others in school creates a serious divide between adults and children, apart from hampering the ability of teachers to teach their students social responsibility and safety in these environments.

Image credit: Ewan McIntosh

Tags: Twitter, social networking, ban, teachers, public service