I am currently working on an article for Classical Singer about how teachers use social media and the implications in their voice studio. For this blog entry, I am looking for your feedback and opinions regarding Facebook, texting and email. Teachers and singers, I hope to hear from you!
For voice teachers, how do you handle social media? Are you friends with your students on Facebook? Why/why not? If I have a voice student send me a friend request, I usually accept their request. I do not send friend requests to students, however. I feel that Facebook, if used appropriately, can be a useful and fun tool. I am friends with most of my colleagues, and it has been a great way to stay in touch with singer and teacher friends. I have also gotten writing and singing gigs via Facebook. However, I do not post a lot of personal information on FB- I try to keep it as professional as possible. As far as being friends with my students, I love being able to keep in touch on a more informal level. It can, though, be a negative experience when I see them posting pictures of all-night partying or using inappropriate language. Thankfully, this is more the exception rather than the norm.
How do you predominantly communicate with your students- text, phone or email? If you do text, do you have any parameters regarding texting? I text students often, and I find it is very convenient. However, I am surprised when students text me at 10:00 p.m. on a Friday night, or they text me questions that really should be dealt with through email.
For those of you currently studying voice, are you friends with your teachers on Facebook? Why/why not? Do you text your teachers? Do you even use email anymore? What are your thoughts about social media and your teachers?
Any input would be greatly appreciated. If you are more comfortable emailing me a response, please feel free to contact me at michelle.latour@unlv.edu. Thanks!
Social Media and the Voice Studio
