When I started doing research on this subject, the first couple of pages of results were either about how bad social media is for teenagers or how bad social media is for readers. While I do see negative aspects of social media, there are so many positive things about it. Specifically, we are able to connect with people easier than ever. In Nancie Atwell’s book In the Middle, she encourages her students to post online different reviews. Some for books, some for movies. This is just one example of how social media can be a great tool for connecting readers.
Online, there are tons of websites that a reader can go to in order to find recommendations and connect with other readers. A very popular site for this is GoodReads. This is a site I am sure we are all familiar with so I am not going to talk about it too much but with this website, readers are allowed to review books, look at recommendations, and even join or create an online book club. Another website that seems similar to GoodReads is called LibraryThing. I’ve never used LibraryThing but I would love to know if any of you have.
When people usually hear the words “social media” they think of things like Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. Something I have been very interested in for a couple months now is a community called Bookstagram. Bookstagram is an online community of readers that all have profiles on Instagram. I have recently created a Bookstagram and it has been such an enjoyable experience to talk to other readers and get recommendations. Something surprising that happened to my Bookstagram account is a starting author messaged me and asked me to read one of her books. This was very cool and it would not have been possible without social media.
Students are able to use all of these great tools to expand their reading lives. I have found that social media has provided me with more recommendations than personal recommendations because most of my friends and family are not readers. This has been a great tool for me and I believe students will enjoy these opportunities as well.
For me, I mostly use my Bookstagram and GoodReads in order to talk to other readers and get recommendations. It is also cool to look up different lists that people put together under different subjects. (For example, a list of diverse books.) These are the most helpful to me but I do not want to limit my students to websites that I use. I want them to explore just as much as I have.
Rachel's Mind 
I’m glad you were able to find some new platforms for sharing reading. I am not big on social media, so I haven’t even made it past the usual sites. Although, since I don’t really like Twitter and SnapChat, perhaps some of these more obscure sites would be better for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Twitter is something I do not mind but I hardly use. In my life, I’ve used it more for classes than my own personal use.
LikeLike
I love all the resources in your post! I’ll have to do some adding to my own social media. But i also appreciate that you say students can use more than just the apps you use. Like I got a Twitter solely for this class and will probably delete it once I’m done simply because I don’t the app. Wonderful post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t mind Twitter but it just something I hardly use. It gets confusing to me at times!
LikeLike
I had never heard of Bookstagram. Thanks for introducing me to this social media site!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is really fun! I’ve found a lot of great online book friends through it.
LikeLiked by 1 person