Can social media empower the educator, too?

Social media has been a heated topic of discussion in education for a number of years now. At Dubai British School, it's no different. For all the educators who say social media is a revolutionary tool to be embraced in the classroom, you will find as many others who say it's something to be feared and kept at arm's length.
What scares many educators is the fact that social media and technology is developing at a pace beyond our ability to keep up. It has the potential to undermine and show us up as dated and out of touch. I am the Head of Technology Integration at my school, and I freely admit that the students have an intuition for social media well beyond my own. It is very easy to fear what you do not understand.
At schools, we also fear the dark side of social media where students can ruin their digital reputations through a rashly posted message. Social media is also a place where parental criticism is publicised externally. We have cases in the UK where teachers are hounded online by both students, and in some unfortunate circumstances, parents themselves. Professional reputations can be undermined on sites such as Ratemyteacher.com with no evidence or opportunity for reply. However, we can also look at social media as an opportunity to enhance our reputations.
Parents today often look to a school's online reputation when deciding on a school. As a result, social media is increasingly important to private schools in the UAE. Teachers' reputations can also be enhanced with social media as a platform to showcase talent.
Many teachers can plateau in their profession. However, the most outstanding educators strive for continual improvement. Social Media platforms like Twitter allow educators to "plug-in" to a professional learning community (PLC) well beyond the confines of their own school. It is a modern day approach, and as such, is incredibly empowering to an outstanding educator.
It proves just how empowering social media can be to education. We still have a responsibility to protect students and teachers from the dark side of social media. However, it is an incredibly powerful tool to learn, develop and showcase what we do on a daily basis in education.
It is a tool to empower our profession and develop our reputations as Magic Weavers (as @sirjohnfjones puts it) to the rest of the world.
The perils of social media are widely documented. Research has shown that young people are likely to obsess over the life-styles and achievements of their friends, and social media has been linked to an increase in their social anxiety. Teenagers today are pressured to engage in social media in order to "keep up appearances" within their peer groups. In my own role at Dubai.
Neal Joseph Oates is the Head of Technology integration Dubai British School (Taaleem)