Man or Woman, Everyone Needs to Read These #YesAllWomen Tweets

Anyone who is a part of the social media world has probably at least heard of the #YesAllWomen tweets. The tweets are trending all over the internet, so they’ve most likely popped up on your Facebook newsfeed or been posted about by your friends. But on the off chance you haven’t yet heard of these tweets or have but haven’t read any of them- I definitely encourage you to do so. 

Sparked by the brutal killings of 6 women and injuries to 13 by Elliot Roger, fueled by his sexual hatred and misogyny, the #YesAllWomen hashtag has gone viral. It’s purpose has been to report or support issues of sexual hatred, fear, harassment, and sexual assault. 

The tweets evoke a whole host of emotions- anger, inspiration, motivation, sadness, determination, support, and more. They are shocking, moving, and most of all eye opening. The subject and sheer number of responses has caused worldwide attention, provoking both support as well as controversy. Whether you are a male or a female, these tweets will undoubtedly speak to you and benefit you. And if you are a parent of either sons or daughters, these tweets can be really important when moving forward teaching your children about respect and equality. 

Here is a list of some if the many tweets I found to be most powerful:

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To read more about the #YesAllWomen movement, visit their FaceBook page

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

How Social Media is Changing the World of Sports

It’s hard to deny that social media hasn’t impacted many aspects of our lives. Something that began as a way to connect with friends has rapidly woven its way into businesses, schools, long distance relationships with family or significant others, and much more. And now social media is changing the way we do sports. Within the last few years social media has become a big part of the lives of both the athletes and the fans. Statistics have shown that more than 80% of fans monitor various social media sites while watching a game on television, and up to 60% check into social media while at the game itself. Fans are using social media to check stats and scores, chat with other fans, and reach out to their favorite athletes. And the athletes are capitalizing on the social media buzz to increase their following, share information, and communicate with their fans. Football player Tim Tebow now holds the record for most tweets per second with a staggering 9,420 tweets every second- which is why even if you hated sports you’ve probably still heard about him. 

Social media’s use within sports doesn’t end at the professional level, but in recent years has begun to be increasingly popular for high school and college athletes as well, beginning right at the business of recruiting. Sites like Facebook and Twitter has helped coaches seek out, monitor, and eventually recruit many high school athletes when the only strategy for doing that used to be through mail or phone call after phone call. Social media has assisted countless college athletes into almost a celebrity-like status, some of them having thousands of followers on Twitter alone. 

But with this new-found online fame comes with it a lot of new responsibilities as well. Student athletes need to be wary that at all times they are representing their team, their school, their coaches, and themselves. Some coaches ban the use of social media altogether, but in recent years many of them have accepted that such strategies aren’t as realistic anymore. So now coaches work with athletes to teach them what is acceptable “social media behavior” and what isn’t. The NCAA is also on board with this, holding conferences to educate student athletes about the best ways to use social media, with a special emphasis on Twitter- which is home to the most sports-related issues. During the conferences they explain to the athletes strategies for maintaining a positive image online at all times, including not trash talking teammates or coaches, avoiding conflict with members of opposing teams, and avoiding any profanity or pictures that can potentially send the wrong message. 

When used appropriately, social media has opened up a whole new world for both athletes and their fans. And I expect as the years go on this is a trend that will only continue to grow in both its importance and popularity. 

The Heroes of the Boston Marathon Explosion

When tragedies like the bombing at the Boston Marathon happen, many of us find that we immediately begin to question humanity and ask ourselves what is happening to the world. I found myself in this trap as well. Several of us at ONCEkids have family in Boston or even grew up there, so news of this tragedy really hit home. 

Not long after hearing the news, I was surfing the Internet letting myself sink into that inevitable pessimism, when I stumbled upon some articles and pictures people had shared on Facebook. 

Clicking on one share led to another and another until instead of being depressed and disappointed with humanity, I found myself becoming inspired. It was then that it hit me, instead of focusing on the few individuals who have lost their sense of compassion, we should instead focus on all the people who still display infinite amounts of kindness. The shares I was reading on Facebook were stories and pictures of all the people who stepped out of the shadows to demonstrate courage and bravery that is both admirable as well as inspiring. 

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One of the first things I read was how many of the people who finished the marathon continued running all the way to the hospital to donate blood or find some other way they could pitch in. On Twitter people tweeted stories about a responder who wheeled a woman to safety and then ran back into the danger to rescue more people. Countless pictures and videos were shared of people finding their loved ones after being separated by the explosion and others comforting injured or scared strangers. 

Even former New England Patriot Joe Andruzzi stepped up to help carry an injured woman to help. Restaurants all over Boston opened up their doors, giving free food to any locals or runners in need. One of the most moving posts I saw was the list of hundreds of entries on Google Doc of people living in the Boston area offering to pick up or house any people who may be stranded. 

 So tell us your stories! Share with us any knowledge you have or stories you've heard of heroes at the Boston Marathon explosion. We would love to hear anything from small acts of kindness to extreme displays of heroism, everyone is a hero to us!

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Education: Integrating Social Media into Schools (Part 2 of 3)

Earlier we discussed the benefits of YouTube, today we move on to Facebook and YouTube.

The use of social media is something that has been carefully avoided, and often times banned, from schools -- but with rapidly changing technology and an increasing relevance of social networking in people's personal lives and even at work, it is a subject that is becoming hard to ignore. Social networking is a trend that is unlikely to become quiet anytime soon, so shouldn't schools try to find positive uses for the social media rather than just sweeping it under the carpet? Most parents and teachers have been well informed of the horror stories of Facebook or MySpace but many aren't aware of the many benefits such sites can have. If  done properly, teachers can utilize social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to connect, notify, teach, and curate. 

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Facebook is often used as a means of communication between students. If a student has a question about a test or homework assignment he or she can easily look up a classmate on Facebook and ask. This has been a method used since the creation of Facebook- so why not extend it by adding teacher-student communication? Teachers can use Facebook to make a page or group that the students can join. Teachers can then use the page to schedule events, post notes, and remind students of upcoming tests or due dates. Teenagers are on Facebook so often they can't miss it! Facebook also caters to students with apps and groups such as Flashcards and WeRead. These apps are a fun and easy way of learning that modern day teens can really connect with.

Learn more about educator, acclaimed author and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker, click here 

Recently Twitter's popularity has been soaring, especially with businesses. There are countless ways this new trend can be integrated into the classroom. Teachers can create a feed specifically for the class for their students to follow. This way they can tweet about upcoming tests and assignments, class news, events, and other reminders. It is a fast and easy way to get the word out -- plus students will see the tweets every time they check their Twitter pages (which is probably quite frequently). Teachers can also bring Twitter to the classroom by posting links and articles onto the site for students to view outside of class. This makes homework more interesting than a simple textbook or handout (not to mention- it saves a lot of printing!). Tracking hash tags, memes, and current events can allow teachers to find information relevant to the curriculum and incorporate it into class time, making it a more interesting and "hip" way for students to learn. 

Facebook and Twitter are also perfect sites for not just student-teacher communication, but also communication with other teachers. Groups on Facebook and feeds on Twitter can allow teachers to seek out one another and share ideas. It is also an easy way for parents to connect with teachers and see what their child is learning. 

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are mostly viewed by parents and educators as hindering to their child's education-and in certain instances it can be -- but this can be minimized by incorporating social media into education rather than separating it out. Our youth loves social networking, so we should use that to our advantage to help them love learning too!

Click here to return and visit Part 1: YouTube.

Moms in Publishing: Creating a New Language

ONCEKids Publishing is active in social media to spread ideas to our followers and fellow Mompreneurs. For those who are not active within social media websites, such as Facebook or Twitter, hearing about how it works can feel like hearing a different language- and in many ways it is. 

This new language has become the language of the web. A recent update of the Oxford English Dictionary has altered its lexicon to include words such as "LOL", meaning laugh out loud, and "OMG", which stands  for oh my god. Facebook has created terms such as "friending" someone, which is the act of accepting or requesting someone to be part of your social network page. The term "to google" has even been established as a verb used when someone is trying to describe looking something up on the web. Coming up with names and terms that sticks may be just as important to a company as the site design itself.

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An example of a site that has created its own language with incredible results is Twitter. Words such as "tweet" or "follow" have been established to mean message and subscribing to someone's twitter page with great success. Even symbols such as @, denoting an online name, and #, a hashtag denoting a topic, have been popularized throughout the site, as well as the entire web. Even many people who do not participate in Twitter understand what these terms and symbols mean. 

Other companies are trying to coin words that become as popular as Facebook, Twitter, and Google's words, sometimes with great success, other times with little success. Microsoft's efforts to popularize the phrase "Bing it!", even paying the popular show  "Gossip Girl" to use it during the show, was met with ridicule by others on the web. However, sites such as Pinterest , a site that allows people to create virtual inboards or bulletin boards, have found success with the phrase to "pin" favorite images. 

To learn more about the author of this article Eileen Wacker and her acclaimed book series,  visit ONCEKids, ONCEKids on Facebook,  ONCEKids on Twitter.

The secret seems to be that the successful ones appear more naturally occurring, even if the creation is entirely artificial. 

ONCEKids Publishing is proud of its very active social media presence with a blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.  Be sure to follow us for more information on childrens books, literacy, education, diversity, Modern Moms.

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