Social Media Tips for Members and Associations

NJEA members use social media to magnify their voices and maximize their impact on educational issues in their communities. Social media offers the opportunity to share opinions and experiences with likeminded individuals around the world. Whether it’s posting a video to Facebook, tweeting an article to your legislators, or sharing a photo of your classroom on Instagram, your posts can be impactful.

Best Practices

As educators, we are held to higher standards than the rest of the working world. It’s a responsibility that we take very seriously. That’s why NJEA urges its members who have personal social media accounts to follow a set of simple practices to avoid any issues. Download the Best Practices for Social Media to learn more about staying safe online.

Download

Impact

While the First Amendment protects speech, such protections are not absolute for public employees. When your speech negatively impacts your reputation as an educator or that of your school district/employer, it can adversely affect your employment. To learn more, read the 2023 NJEA Review article titled “The Impact of Social Media on Public Employees in New Jersey.”

READ NOW

Community Norms

When using social media, we suggest that all members follow a set of community norms. The suggested norms should be utilized on your personal social media accounts and when engaging on your local and county association social media pages. Local and county associations may personalize the community norms and share them with members. Download the 10 Community Norms for Engaging on Social Media.

Download

Training

NJEA provides training to local and county associations who need further assistance. Contact your UniServ field rep to inquire. Offerings include: Social Media for Associations - overview of how local and county associations should use social media to inform and engage members; Social Media: Protecting Yourself as an Educator -  the best strategies for engaging on social media to avoid backlash and/or  employment being adversely affected.

CONTACT

Social Media Basics

social media

NJEA has developed several documents with detailed social media basics that can be utilized by local and county unions. Each document is intended to be a guide for utilizing the social media platforms our members use. You may download and use the following documents to help you best engage with your members on social media:

Social Media Basics for Local & County Unions

This resource provides an overview of how local and county associations should use their social media accounts to best engage members.

Download

Facebook Basics for Local & County Unions

This resource provides an overview of how to set up a public Facebook page to best engage members and create a following within the community.

Download

X & Threads Basics for Local & County Unions

This resource provides an overview of how local and county associations should put together tweets and threads to best engage members.

Download

Connect

Please like and follow NJEA on social media to stay in the loop about upcoming events, current news, and member benefits. You are encouraged to share, repost, or retweet any content we have posted to our social media accounts to keep members informed.

Facebook: New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)
Twitter: @njea
Instagram: @insta_njea
Threads: @insta_njea
TikTok: @TeamNJEA
YouTube: @njeaweb
Flickr: New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)