Although Facebook is scheduled to die sometime in the next year or two, it’s still a very popular mode of communication for Columbus-area schools.
Since one of the long-ranging objectives of Columbus City Schools is to improve its image, it might be worth the time to look at its public social media feed on Facebook. Especially since the visitor posts there have been as engrossing as the Dispatch comment section from the olden days, before registration was required.
One section that’s worth a look on the school system’s page is the section for reviews. Excerpts from the last week include: “They can kiss my @$$.” ; “YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL AND NEITHER IS YOUR CHILD”; “What is wrong with you people?”; and “THE BOE SUCKS”. Not a lot of stars there.
How about recent Posts by Others? There, readers will find suggestions to report the district to children’s services for endangerment; several suggestions that administrators at Columbus City Schools walk to work in the cold, as well as a photo of a school where the heat is evidently not working.
This Facebooking seems like not a good thing, from a public relations perspective.
But perhaps it’s that way in every school system. Worthington City Schools has a Facebook page. The one review that’s there has five stars. The Posts by Others section? Well, it’s all nice. And periodically, the school system even replies to the posts with something that invariably starts with “Good question!”
Of course, Worthington serves a distinctly upscale demographic group. Perhaps it would be kinder to look at something more similar: South-Western City Schools. The district has (perhaps wisely) disabled the ability for visitors to review it or create posts. That leaves viewers with only the comment function to provide input. Lots of “likes”, “Great Job”-ing and “Congrats!”.
From an optimist’s perspective, the ongoing over-the-top critical posts on the page for Columbus City Schools makes for great reading entertainment; it’s a terrific public service. It also helps explain why many parents say their voices are ignored at Columbus City Schools; there are lots of voices in the system.
The question is whether the optimist’s perspective is great for a public school system and its image… and whether that image reflects reality.
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