Why Uphold the Bulletin's No-Conversation Policy?

Your phone buzzes nonstop, with notification after notification coming from… the OHS Bulletin?

The Skype Bulletin is a fantastic platform for student questions and announcements that call for a wide reach and rapid responses. With 366 members, it’s ideal for asking questions about classes or tech support, sending surveys for projects, sharing links to school events, and gauging interest in a new club or circle—types of communication that aren’t as suited for OHS’s other news sources, such as the Pixel Weekly and TGIF. 

In order for the platform to fulfill its purpose of featuring easily accessible announcements and questions, the Bulletin enforces a no-conversation rule and is moderated by a team of students. For the 2019-2020 school year, the Bulletin administrators are Kat Davis, Marie Tagbo, Nicole Wu, Tomas Belmar da Costa, Xenya Currie, and myself (Hannah Yang). 

Every year, students bring up the issue of whether or not the Bulletin is too strictly regulated. When a student sends multiple messages consecutively or when multiple people give similar responses to the same question, a Bulletin admin is quick to remind chatters of the “NO CONVOS” rule, which at one point was even emblazoned in the Skype group’s name. In the past, students have expressed frustration in the chat with messages such as, “I got kicked for sending, like, two messages that were arguably humorous and didn't really harm anyone, and I pm'ed [a moderator] but got no response.” Some students have questioned why Bulletin admin should have authority over the group chat at all, claiming that conversation and community is what OHS group chats should be fostering. 

First, I will clarify that the individual admins of the Bulletin aren’t trying to ruthlessly yield their powers to kick people from the chat. The admin team has its own group chat to discuss whether or not a student should be removed and for how long, as well as any revisions that need to be made to Bulletin policies. We encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions regarding these rules.

Secondly, the Bulletin has moderators to ensure that it remains useful. Students who spam in the group chat are reaching more than three hundred people. If students are frequently using the Bulletin to send unnecessary messages, other students are likely to turn off notifications for the chat or leave the group entirely, meaning that they will miss announcements that could have been helpful for them. Conversation is fantastic, and has a place in numerous OHS group chats from Hallways to the plethora of study groups. The Bulletin, however, should be viewed as a source of information rather than a space for conversation.

As a new member of the admin team, I’m eager to facilitate discussion around how best to run the Bulletin. At the same time, I’d argue that the fact that the Bulletin continues to be a first choice for students asking for help and advertising their projects is proof that the current model is effective. If you still feel suffocated by the rules, feel free to start your own group chat and advertise it in the Bulletin—that’s what the Bulletin is for.

Want to familiarize yourself with the Bulletin’s rules and our protocols for violations of these rules? Check out this Google Doc.