Lorrie Jackson recently interviewed me via email on the topic of heads of school and their use of social media. Her questions and my answers (slightly tidied up) are below. You can read her interviews with several heads of school here.
1. Why should heads of school be involved in social media?
As the institution’s leader, school heads need to visible. Showing up and being there is one of the responsibilities of the head. It’s why they appear at curriculum evenings, athletics events, the play, the picnic, the assembly, the reception etc. Social media is another of those places. It also gives the head an opportunity to promote the school, enter the dialogue and be part of the conversation.
We want our schools to be visible. And we want our schools to speak with a mission consistent voice. The head can be a huge contributor in that effort.
Social media is a place to demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning. Social media are exceptional tools for learning and schools and heads need to be learners. Some schools can afford to hire a cadre of community media managers. Most can’t and don’t . The head can play a role in filling that gap and demonstrate to colleagues that even fossils can contribute. So key reasons: Learning, leading, community building, marketing, communication, reputation management and – most important – values: 
Setting the tone for how your school is perceived and what it stands for.
Lastly – FUN.
Heads care about all these things and here is how they can play a part.
2. Does your school tweet and if so, how is that different than what you tweet?
Our school does tweet @poughkeepsieday. At the moment I am the prime tweeter for the school but we are working on distributed tweeting so that we create a more lively twitter presence. Tweeting for the school is institutional. Tweeting as myself is individual although always with the awareness that my name is inextricably entwined with the school.
3. What social media sites are you active on?
Poughkeepsie Day School Facebook and the Poughkeepsie Day School Alumni Association Facebook. Less actively on Flickr, YouTube and LinkedIn.
I am also an admin on the NYSAIS Facebook page.
Twitter – as above.
Connected Principals blog. ISED ning and assorted other education nings – where I am more of a consumer than a producer.
My own blog.
I use Twitter to keep connected with what is happening in education. The educators I follow on Twitter are the most thoughtful, interesting and informative in the Twitter education world. It is an invaluable resource and a means of connection.
4. Of these sites, which do you use for professional reasons and which for personal reasons?
Those are all professional. I do have a personal Facebook page but it remains fairly neglected.
5. On Twitter in particular, what topics do you usually like to tweet about?
As @JosieHolford I interact on issues that I care about. I share links to resources that I have found and think will be of value. I express opinions about education and schools. I share the tweets of others when I find them useful and important. I join in discussions at various hashtags e.g #edchat. I also follow the tweets of areas of personal interest @I-W-M (Imperial War Museum) and @BBCArchive for example and use their links to routinely be connected with interesting resources. I am interested in many areas of school management and leadership and academic disciples. So I tweet and retweet on educational theory, educational practice, learning, literacy, learning and the brain, child development, the future, psychology, school design, marketing, history, curriculum design, school reform, communications, technology, and on all the interconnections between and among them.
6. What feedback (retweets, comments in person, etc.) have you gotten about your Twitter presence?
Most people with whom I interact face-to-face know little or nothing about Twitter. Most people I meet are unconvinced of the value of Twitter as a preeminent tool for learning and professional development. They rarely get beyond the concept of “I don’t have time for that” and “I don’t care whether someone had brussel sprouts for breakfast”. In so doing , I think they are missing out on a valuable resource. Those who are in the twitterverse are generally delighted to connect, share, communicate and support.
7. What suggestions would you give to other heads of school interested in developing a professional presence on social media sites?
Jump right in. Do not wait until you understand it all. Don’t delegate the work to others (entirely) and never to someone who does not understand your school on a deep level.
Find those in your school who are already dabbling or immersed in social media. Begin to distribute 
responsibility to those who trust the school and its leadership and who understand the school and its mission and philosophy on a deep level. Do not fear a deluge of negativity coming at you. Getting attention is the hard thing, getting in the game and into the conversation is the real issue.
Unless you know right now that the hordes carrying pitchforks are at your school gates, no-one is poised to jump on you online. And the thing is – you will not engender hostility by being in the game. If the storm clouds are already gathered, then this is an opportunity to create counter weather systems. Lots more advice on how to deal with the rare annoying and negative comment. (Basically – let it be. Social media is a place to do that all-important listening and learning. Social media should not be a unidirectional cheerleading megaphone but a voice in the mix.)
But anon. We are all still learning about this stuff. And the learning will never end. I am happy to talk with any head about to take the plunge.
I use Twitter (smoky_stu), Facebook, Blogs and Wikis and find the students appreciate my presence as a teacher, I only wish our Principal would take up some of what is said by you, as it would open up dialogue and the Principal would be seen as a human presenence rather than the boss in the office. Good idea!
Dear Josie,
I really like your blog! It is so cool. I was looking at it for a while and it is SO different from any other blogs that I have ever seen! It is unique in a lot of ways. I like how the start page of your blog has questions that the lady asked you , and then the answers on the blog under the questions. All of the pictures on the side of your blog that the staff took from the school show the smiling kids at PDS. It makes PDS look like a happy school! I looked at EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! I like your blog a lot and I think you should keep on working with it! Good luck!
From, Blade Kalb
This comment is really for the farewell to the class of 2010 but I can’t leave a comment on that page.
Hi Josie,
I really enjoyed reading your farewell to the class of 2010! I t was very interesting and I thought that it really described each and every one of the graduates because you knew them so well. I think that it probably really touched their hearts. This was an amazing speech and it must have taken a very long time to write!
-Elias
I passed this post along to my head of school. He isn’t convinced, but I keep trying. Thanks so much for showing that you can be a head of school and embrace social media successfully. You are such an incredible example. I always appreciate your thoughts and ideas. Poughkeepsie Day School must be a wonderful place to work and to attend.
Coincidentally, my husband is an alum and his mother taught science at PDS many years ago.
-Liz
Dear Josie,
I like your interview with Lorrie Jackson about social media. I also think the head of school should be involved in social media and contact other principles. It must have taken a long time to finish that interview and a long time to post it. I have a couple of questions though, who is Lorrie Jackson? Will you be interviewed by her again? Please could you answer these questions on my blog.(shirleys6th.edublogs.org)
From: Milo Himberger, 6th grade
Hi Josie,
I read over some of your blog and I think it is pretty good. I agree that heads of school should be on social networks. Like you, I think that social networking can be a very useful tool in school. The way you wrote your post, Social Media and School Leadership was interesting, I didn’t want to stop reading. I think you have great writing skills and you know how to keep the reader interested.
Sincerely, Matt
Hi Kristi, Adrian and Charlie:
Thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment.
I think it is a good thing for teachers and educators to be involved with social media and for their voices to be heard. And as far as PDS is concerned I think the more people know about what happens here the better. I came up with this simple phrase a few months ago – “everyday amazing” – to describe what happens here every day. I am so very proud of what the people at PDS do and I want the world to know just what a wonderful community we have.
Kristi – I can’t answer for all teachers but to me it would be dreadful to teach the same thing in the same way every year. The world changes and we have to re-think what we do all the time. And that’s what makes it interesting. These days there are always new and innovative ways to do everything and the new tools for teaching are very exciting. The trick is to know what to keep and what to change.
I am delighted to hear that you feel so positively about how much you have learned here at PDS. I know that your teachers have helped you but you also have to remember that you did the work yourself!
Charlie – Thanks for the invitation. I do visit your blogs quite often and now I must take more time to read and comment on your work. I love that I am able to “visit” your class from home as well as in person.
– Josie
Hi Josie:
I agree with you on, how you think it is important for heads of schools to be involved in social media. I also think that by using social media we can connect with other people and help raise awareness about our school to get more people to come here. Please come comment on my blog page at http://shirleys6th.edublogs.org/
-Charlie
Hi Josie,
It’s Adrian from Shirley’s class. I like the fact that you think that the heads of school should be more social. Our school is showing to the world that we are a very social school and that we tell our ideas out loud to the world. I think the fact that you want our school to be seen by others is .helpful. You really like to tell people how our school is and I like that.
-Adrian.
Hi Josie,
I just finished reading a post on your blog, called Six Reasons. I couldn’t find a comment button so I am commenting here instead. I really like everything you said about our school and I agree with you on all of it. I also like the picture you took and would like to ask you a question about the post.
My question is… Do you ever think teachers get tired of teaching the same things every year? I think if i was a teacher and taught for many years the same thing I would be very bored and tired of it. I also think our school should have a volleyball team and I’m sure a lot of people would join. To tell you the truth, I have learned so much from this school in just almost 6 years. I remember when I was in 1st grade and didn’t know any English and now I’m doing great with my work, all thanks to P.D.S.
Thanks again to you and all the teachers for teaching me so well.
– Kristi