Does anyone have a Social Media (Facebook) policy that covers Fan and/or Group pages for school groups such as an after school program, team or club? The purpose of the Fan / Group page would be to communicate upcoming events, newsletters, practice schedules and etc. If so, how did you come up with it and will you share?
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Questions and answers from and to board members.
Our grade school has a Facebook fan page that is only used by parents/nothing “official”. The main difference is that Facebook PUSHES info to users… Which means it is useful to know there is something new, as opposed to the web site that I would have to check to see if there is anything new. I keep prodding administration to just post a note like, “new schedule for winter sports now on website”–complete with a link. More communication is always better
Good morning, our PTA using facebook to keep parents and students up to date on their events and to inform parents of dates and times of events and what is going on with the PTA, it works well as a communication tool. However, there is no current policy in place other than ensuring it is used in a professional manner and not abused.
We use a Facebook fan page to augment communications with the public. The PTO has a page as well. Things get posted, but, not everything gets to everyone who subscribes to these pages. Though, Facebook is nice for some people, it is definitely not part of the official mode of communication. And shouldn’t be. It is simply something extra. We also use front porch forum. But, that too, has similar limitations. A good web site with updated announcements, in addition to traditional communications, is more useful.
I would argue against using Facebook as a communications tool for newsletters, practice schedules, etc. Why not simply post them to an appropriate website accessible to everyone. My rationale is that I know many, many people who do not have Facebook accounts, nor do they want Facebook accounts, and frequently those who use Facebook for purposes such as you suggest end up using them exclusively.
We don’t have a board policy on this regards, but it is my personal view that NO public school information of any sort should require any type of registration to access.
In my limited world that leaves the likes of Facebook out.