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Social Sarah: 4 New Social Media Trends

School is back in session – or will be soon! – and teachers, students, and parents alike are gearing up for a year of learning. It’s almost certain that social media will play a part in your classrooms, whether you’re embracing it as a teaching aide, or trying to hold students’ attention when their Snapchat notifications are filling their screens.

Using social media is a great way to promote your trip. You can use a variety of avenues to keep students engaged and excited, get them talking, and get even more students signed up! Plus, your students will be impressed with your tech savvy skills. During your trip, you can also keep parents and family members at home up to date with trip news or stories using social media – and it’s just a snap!

Here are four new social media trends for you to keep your eyes out for:

Instagram Stories

Similar to Snapchat stories, Instagram’s new “Instagram Stories” feature is designed for users to share all moments throughout their day, not just a select few. Photos and videos appear together in a slideshow format and can include text and drawing. They disappear after 24 hours, and won’t appear on your profile. Stories are found in a bar at the top of the app when its opened and are meant to help avoid “over posting.”

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Facebook Live

In an ever more connected society, Facebook Live is growing in popularity. Users can live stream themselves from anywhere through the Facebook app. Everyone from celebrities hosting Q&As with fans to families on vacation at Disney are using Facebook Live, and Facebook saves the video to your profile once the live stream ends. It’s a tool that could be interesting to consider incorporating into your classroom!

Snapchat

Snapchat has been around for a bit, but it is growing rapidly in popularity. In fact, the app is predicted to reach 217 million users by 2017. Snapchat is winning over the teen demographic in particular with creative new filters, like the “Live Score” filter which will include high school football games.

Lifestage

Perhaps the newest social media app on the block is Facebook’s Lifestage, meant solely for high schoolers. It was even built by a teen! The app is built for students to learn about and interact with their classmates and includes several safety features. Users create their profiles by answering questions like “Who is your best friend?” in video format, which then creates a video profile for other users to watch.

What’s the latest social media trend at your school? Tell us in the comments!