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So here is some great news: #Rules_of_Engagement has only been out less than a week and already it is so popular that the movie and television rights have been purchased, and a thriller version of the content is now available. Who could have guessed my book would be so well received so very quickly… like almost before it even hit the shelves… like maybe before it was even written?
So here is the bad news: If you are looking for it on Amazon or the like, you might need to also type my last name in your search. And if a bunch of you would be so kind to do so (maybe a couple of times, you know… just for fun) we might be able to get it higher in the viewing profile so that people won’t have to scroll through seven seasons of “two married couples and their single friend” or the story of a decorated colonel under prosecution in order to get helpful tips about showing up Christian on social media. Ahhhh, algorithms.
I’m at work on a group discussion guide to go along with the book – for use in parishes or parent groups in schools. It’s not ready quite yet. But as you read, if questions come to mind that you think would be interesting ones for groups to talk about related to social media practice, I’d love to hear them.
Meanwhile, here are a couple of sites that I’ve been visiting lately and finding super helpful to keep myself abreast of the free resources that already exist to help us be our better, wiser selves online:
- John Greene’s Crash Course Navigating Digital Information – The whole series is both informative and hilarious (because it is John Greene). If you don’t have time to watch them all, for our purposes I especially episode #10 which is specifically on wise use of social media. (Excellent for high school students onward.)
- Calling Bullshit: Data Reasoning in a Digital World - Two professors came up with a whole semester long course to talk about how to assess the truthfulness of data, photos, opinions. They tackle it all. And have been generous enough to post not only their syllabus but their class lectures and case studies all online so that we can take their course, too. (Probably most appropriate for college level onward.)
- Digital Citizenship – A set of free lesson plans (spanning K-12) from Common Sense Education to help kids (and the rest of us) figure out all sorts of stuff about life online (truthfulness, safety, cyberbullying, managing our time, etc.)
No need to reinvent the wheel when there is so much good stuff out there for use by Catholic educators and parish ministers. Other resources you’ve found helpful that you think we should add to the list? Tell me about those also!