Texts, Lies, and Mediascapes - Communication Technologies and Social Media as Risk in the Educational Landscape

Oct 15, 2026

Studies have examined how digital communications affect administrators’ work, yet few address reputational risks to school administrators from social media and digital communication. This Alberta case study applies Kasperson et al. (1988) social amplification of risk to an exclusion room controversy using longitudinal, five-year Twitter analysis. Findings show traditional news media and politicians influence more than administrators, teachers, or parents. Implications guide educational administration behaviour and policy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research objectives and driving questions

Risk amplification framework and parental involvement context

Texts, Lies, and Mediascapes: Communication Technologies and Social Media as Risk in the Educational Landscape Samuel Pelkey, Bonnie Stelmach, & Darryl Hunter University of Alberta Abstract Studies have shown how digital communications impact administrators’ work, but few have looked atthe reputational risks to school administrators incurred through social media and digital communica[tions. This Alberta case study looks at risk through Kasperson et. al](tions. This Alberta case study looks at risk through Kasperson et. al)’s (1988) social amplification of risk framework for an exclusion room controversy. Twitter responses are analyzed and interpreted over a longitudinal, 5-year period. Despite school administrators’ perceptions that risk might be generated on social media from community-led, grass-roots sources, traditional figures and agencies such as provincial news media and politicians appear more influential than school administrators, teachers, or parents in the Twitterverse. Implications are drawn for educational administrative behaviour and policy. Keywords: risk, social media, school leadership Introduction What would be the optics out there in the public? What would the general public think of the school division?…Would it involve the Minister of Education?...How messy would something get? It would make the front-page news. The trustees would have to deal with [it]. What would the superintendent have to deal with? (Alberta School Administrator). …we want to ensure that our messaging is correct and that it provides appropriate facts…. I don’t want to have anybody with the ability to criticize or misinterpret a situation. (Alberta School Administrator) The above quotations were documented in a study examining Alberta school administrators’ conceptualizations of risk (Stelmach et al., 2019). A theme in that study was that social media commands educators’ risk attention; administrators obsess with “control[ling] the message…to mitigate risk”(p. 21). Social media was perceived as risk-laden, particularly because it is part of a communication ecosystem that has an instant, global reach. Legal battles, reputation, and safety are some ofwhat is on the line. Parents’ perceptions ofthe school were especially important because of their potential to unenroll their children and cause funding repercussions. The study we report on here was a logical extension of that 2019 study. We sought to understand whether and/or how social media shapes school-related issues into risk issues to warrant school administrators’ concerns. In a provincial scan of trends impacting school administrators’ work completed by the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) (2019), a principal reported spending extra hours in their day to both preempt and respond to issues emerging from what was referred to as the “parallel universe”(p. 46) of social media. This reflects a national experience. For example, the author of another study conducted for the ATA (2017) concluded “the fallout from social media use in the school community places a significant burden on administrators’ time”(p. 41). In general, the erosion of time and space boundaries and the expectation for expedience that the digital world invites has compelled administrators to be on the job at all times and all days of the week (Pollock & Hauseman, 2019). While these studies have drawn our attention to how digital communications quantitatively impact administrators’ work, our ambition was more qualitative in nature. In our study, we were concerned with the “life” that an educational issue takes on because of and through social media and digital communications. In particular, since the initial study identified parents as a key audience that school administrators were most concerned with, we focused on issues with risk potential involving this stakeholder group. We had three objectives: 1. to identify the mechanisms through which school-based events grow into issues for public co

FAQs

How does the study explain social media’s role in turning school issues into risks?

It uses the social amplification of risk framework to analyze how educational incidents become risk issues through participation and digital communications. The study focuses on the mechanisms that move events into public consumption via social media.

What method and time scope does the research use?

The research analyzes Twitter responses over a longitudinal five-year period. This case-study approach supports interpretation of reputational dynamics in the Alberta context.

Who is found to be most influential in the Twitter-driven reputational environment?

Despite administrators’ perceptions that risk may be generated by community grassroots sources, traditional figures and agencies—especially provincial news media and politicians—appear more influential than administrators, teachers, or parents.

Oct 15, 2026

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