Thing 2: Online Communities & PLNs

I wouldn't say that I'm an "Online Community Maven" necessarily, but I do love Twitter - and I use it a lot. Too much, perhaps. (I just took a break and checked my twitter feed right there!) I have experimented with many of the Twitter tools suggested - but I find that actually just using Twitter itself is what suits me best. I don't even have my Facebook and Twitter accounts linked, mostly because I don't care enough about Facebook to do so. I occasionally use TweetDeck if I am attempting to follow a specific, active hashtag, but only then. Otherwise I find that sometimes it's just too much to process, and I lose interest.
I also find myself using lists less and less. I used to group authors separately from librarians, and separate from my other interests, but I decided that if it's something I enjoy reading about, I just want it in my feed. The only time I really check my lists is to see if anyone has been mysteriously un-followed.
All that said, don't doubt my love for Twitter! I am always happy to talk up Twitter and to try to convince people of its wonders. I have "met" so many wonderful people through Twitter that I would never have found otherwise. I love that I can throw a question out there and actually get real responses. People are truly so generous with their time and knowledge. It has made me a better teacher and librarian.
So, for this activity, I re-visited tools in Twitter I hadn't used in a while, and I explored a new tool - Mightybell. I am always looking for an easy way to communicate with parents, and I thought this might be a forum for that. I do not have official approval from my school district for the library to be on Facebook or Twitter, so I need some other alternative. I could do a blog, but I just want something quick and short. I've experimented with a few tools, and Mightybell seems like it might actually work. I'll play around with it for a few weeks before actually rolling anything out to parents. My vision is to just have quick updates with summaries of what certain classes/grades are doing in the library. I have always been a huge fan of advocacy through simply informing parents of what we do. I feel like what we do should be able to sell our program on its own. :) I do think the format is very easy to use - simple, clean, and inviting. I like that you don't need to scroll too much to see a lot of headlines, and I like the "Cheer" idea. I'll keep you all posted and let you know how it goes!
Here's the link to my Mightybell: https://mightybell.com/spaces/19920