Social Media's Influence on Policy Issues

When thinking about the many social mediums that are available to the public today, early childhood professionals must be cautious when choosing a media to use to broadcast their policy issues.  Many social mediums require a person to create an account, including a username and password, as well as to provide some personal information.  This fact often deters a person from using a particular social medium, which in turn could limit the number of people that early childhood professionals can reach.  For this reason, I would choose blogging and YouTube as the social media tools to communicate my policy issue, as both are free to the public to view.

Changing the ways in which school districts contract with outside agencies to provide special education services to preschool age children is a sensitive issue to both parents and early childhood professionals.  However, their personal experiences with the special education process are invaluable and could be shared on a blog or on YouTube in the form of written or videotaped interviews.  A parent’s journey from referring their child to the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) to the moment their child begins to receive services could be documented and followed by each visitor to the website.  The visitors, or audience, of both social media could include children, parents, educators, and policymakers.

Through a blog and YouTube, a child (with parental supervision) could learn about the various special education services from other children through stories, pictures, or videos.  Parents can share experiences, provide advice to one another, as well as ask questions and offer answers in the comments section found on each website.  Educators and policymakers would benefit from reading both the child and the parent perspectives of the preschool special education process, as they could become more aware of what is currently working and what may need to be modified in the future.

Blogging and YouTube are two social mediums that can reach a significant number of children, parents, professionals, and policymakers in the early childhood field today.  Both websites are free to use for the public and can be viewed on computers, as well as any handheld device.  The only drawback to both websites, as with any website, is determining the most effective method of inviting the public to view them.  How do you find the websites that interest you?  Is it through email?  A link found on a website you frequent?  Or do you find websites in print, like in newspapers or pamphlets?