Now in paperback: Change the World Using Social Media

Have you dipped your toe into Threads, the new social media platform by Meta? Are you thinking that you need to learn more about how to use social media, rather than using trial and error?

In 2021, Paul Signorelli published the book, Change the World Using Social Media, through Rowman & Littlefield.What is it about?

Starting with an overview of what social media tools provide, Signorelli shows how social media tools can be quickly learned and easily adapted to produce small- as well as large-scale changes when used effectively in conjunction with other collaboration resources and tools. 

Book chapters include:

• What Is Social Media and What Can It Do for You?
• Facing the Pros and Cons of Facebook
• Twitter: Small Messages With Large Results
• LinkedIn and Collaborative Project Management Tools: Tapping Into Business Networks
• Picturing Change: Instagram, Snapchat, and Flickr
• Blogging for Social Change
• Broadcasts and Podcasts: YouTube, TalkShoe, and Zencastr
• Videoconferencing and Telepresence: Meeting Online to Change the World
• Follow the Money: Changing the World through Online Fundraising
• Facing Incivility: Trolls, Online Harassment, and Fake News
• Organizing to Change the World

I was among the people Paul interviewed for the book, along with many others. We provided examples of positive social media use, how-tos, and more. All of the topics are covered in a way to be helpful as you adopt newer or different platforms.

Now the book is available in paperback (in addition to Kindle and hardbound), which makes it available to a wider audience. Amazon provides a peek inside the book, so take a look!

In 2021, Paul Signorelli, Maurice Coleman, and I were interviewed by San Francisco Public Library about the book and using social media. That one-hour interview is available on YouTube. (Yes, my face is this first thing you see! Ha ha!)

This post contains paid links from Amazon.

Little Free Libraries and Diversity

This spring and summer, I have seen many photos of little free libraries. Each one is carried for and each one is used.  However, let's think about the items in those little free libraries.

The mantra of a little free library (LFL) is: 

Take a book. Share a book.

That means that the LFL is dependent on donations. Someone may be curating the LFL, but it is unlikely that the person is filling the LFL based on a collection development policy. Even if that person does have some standards, do those standards assure diversity of content? Is the content inclusive? Is there accessible content? Does the LFL support the diversity in the community (racial, ethnic, gender, etc.)?

I've helped to install little free libraries and I've placed books in them, but the fact that they are generally reliant on donations means that a LFL may not contain the books that will resonate with the community it's in. Imagine an LFL in a Black and Hispanic community that is filled by non-Black and non-Hispanic people who don't live in that community. Will the materials in the LFL represent the community that is using it? No.

This hit home for me when I looked at a little free library outside of a food pantry and realized that the people filling the LFL were from a different demographic.

I don't know how to ensure that a little free library is filled with works that are diverse and inclusive, without causing more work and more cost. Perhaps if folks recognize the problem, that can be a first step towards making each LFL more inclusive, more diverse, and better connected with the community it serves.

If you have ideas on how to solve this problem, post a comment.