The high school administration launched a social media pilot program in early October, inviting student clubs and organizations to apply for school-monitored Instagram accounts. The new initiative will roll out in the coming weeks and aims to standardize school-associated social media use.
Math teacher Will Thayer, who is coordinating club programming this year, sent an email on Oct. 8 inviting clubs to apply for a school-approved Instagram account. With a cap of 10-15 organizations, the pilot program allows approved clubs to set up Instagram accounts using the GDS name, with administrators and faculty advisors closely monitoring them. Students told the Bit that past social media policies from the school were largely unenforced.
“When you post on social media I don’t think there is an appreciation that it is going everywhere in the world,” Thayer said. “There are people out there that are not well-intentioned, and it is a safety issue.”
“I assume they are concerned about accounts going rogue and posting things they don’t like,” senior Mac Penniman, who is head of Enviro Club, said. “But I don’t think a club that is as well established as the Enviro Club is going to do that.”
Right now, most GDS athletics teams and a few clubs run Instagram accounts. Faculty advisors or coaches have access to some, while others are unmonitored.
To participate in the pilot program, clubs have to apply to create a GDS email for their organization; once approved, clubs may create an account.
In the email, Thayer said that any student group with an unapproved social media account, or any group caught using their approved account in violation of the rules, will face discipline, termination of the student organization and loss of funding.
“Using social media unauthorized will lead the club to be disbanded, and that is current policy, and that is in the club guidebook,” Thayer said.
Penniman applied to be a part of the pilot program but has yet to be approved for the program. “Just yesterday [Nov. 12] we got an email from Will Thayer saying: ‘Sorry this is taking so long, just bear with us; it is coming soon,’” Penniman said. “I think that the guidelines are a smart thing to do, but I don’t think it should take this long,” he added. The club heads applied in early October shortly after the pilot program was introduced.
According to Thayer’s email, sports teams must apply for a social media account through the athletics department and Athletics Director Mike Brooks.
Senior Wyatt Grace, a captain of the men’s cross-country team, expressed doubts about the policies. “I think the school should at least be lenient with the approval process,” he said. Grace added that banning an unmoderated sports team’s account seems excessive. “Cross country is one of our stronger teams and people can see what we are doing and how to represent the school on social media,” Grace said.
Senior Evelyn Chen, a manager for the women’s varsity soccer team, said she believes the administration is justified in implementing such policies. “As long as the Instagram account can be running, I think it is acceptable to have rules from the admin,” she said.
“We are working on formalizing a policy because we recognize that social media is the form that most people communicate and get their information from,” Brooks said. “I hope that it can be a way to drive up attendance, inform results and engage the community through reposting and resharing, but also to elevate the athletic status of our school.”
“I think that the purpose of the account is to reach out to people,” Chen said. “I feel like sports culture at GDS is different from other schools and it is a way for more students to come to our games because it changes how we play.”
“We have always had an Instagram account, I think, since about 2018, and I think that it is really good to show what the team is doing and to keep the school in the loop about what is happening,” senior Jada Aksu, one of the captains for women’s varsity volleyball, said.