Educators are now incorporating 21st century tools in their classrooms to reach and engage students, yet school leaders may not always explore the full potential of these tools in communicating with those outside of the classroom. Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age ushers school leaders into the age of social media. Authors Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes demonstrate how social media can be a powerful tool for meaningful communication between school leaders and their stakeholders¿including staff, parents, community members, and the media. Porterfield and Carnes call upon current research, contemporary online tools, and real-world examples to explain both why and how school leaders should use social media. They accomplish three goals: 1. They explore why social media is so powerful and how school leaders can get the most out of it. They examine the communication landscape by addressing the following questions: How did we get here? Why has social media become so important? Who is part of our network? Why is it critical that schools get with the program? What happens if they don¿t? 2. They explore the process of how school leaders can plan their social media debut and create an online platform. They present step-by-step instructions on the basic mechanics of three popular tools of social media: Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. They describe how to send a Tweet, create a Facebook page for a school or district, and how to develop a blog. These chapters introduce these social media tools to the novice and also provide examples of how these platforms can work to support teaching and learning. 3. They explore how to communicate with social media by examining how school leaders can get the right message out in the right way, including the mechanics of how to write for social media, potential pitfalls and dangers, and how to create guidelines for social media use within a school or district. Why Social Media Matters contains how-to instructions, best practices, practical suggestions, and some cautionary tales. Its goal is to help school leaders create a meaningful framework for using social media to improve communication with stakeholders with an emphasis on what will work for each leader in his or her unique situation. It provides a fresh look at nurturing relationships, building trust, and garnering support.