Brendan Weissel
Social Media Manager
Here are the numbers you need to know: 162 likes, 111 comments, 113 shares, 39 saves, 365 website visits, and 1 major conversation through the Newton South hallways.
Most social media teams do not share their post data, and that is generally for a good reason. But today, I am going to share with you the facts from Denebola’s most influential post ever. Before we begin—because this is an article about an Instagram post—make sure you follow @nshsdenbola.
The story starts late Wednesday night while I was studying for my final biology test of the year. I looked up to see that I had received a text from Denebola’s Editor-in-Chief and good friend Josh Walensky. The text informed me that an article had just been written about the New Course Schedule for 2021-2022. After reading the article and leaving my personal opinions aside, I quickly opened up Instagram to post about the new flex block schedule. With one quick caption, the post was up.
Not expecting much, I put down my phone and continued studying. Thirty minutes later, I picked my phone back up to see something very surprising: 32 comments! Most posts will never come close to breaking the 15 comment mark, yet that number was doubled in just half an hour. Excited to see what these comments were about, I quickly read them and responded to people who were confused about the schedule. After doing that about 5 times, I realized almost everyone was confused or frustrated about the schedule.
Here are some of the most liked comments:
“I’d rather spend my time doing something more useful than decorating cakes…”
“I’m confused how there’s only one block clubs can meet per week??”
“Lol I’m not going to a win block”
“How do I complain?”
“Did the administration talk to a SINGLE student before they made this. Literally, who does this benefit?”
“Ironic how the ‘what I need’ blocks are the exact opposite of what students need.”
I think you get the message… students are very confused and extremely frustrated at the announcement and execution of the 2021-2022 schedule.
Flash forward to Thursday, when there was a buzz of conversation throughout the halls and classrooms about the new schedule. As a member of the School Committee and Senate President, I was personally approached by a number of confused fellow classmates who engaged in conversations with me about all the issues.
For a school that has had the same schedule and start time for the last two decades, it is understandable that students and faculty have a wide variety of opinions about the new schedule, and the analysis of this Instagram post would surely suggest that. Having some previous knowledge about this schedule, I did assume we would see many student opinions.
The final numbers I will leave you with are that 1,202 Instagram accounts were reached, of which 37% weren’t following Denebola prior to this post. As the Social Media Manager, I am left with an interesting dilemma. I love the interaction on the Instagram account and the post, but it is unfortunate that this social media boom is the result of a schedule change that has created a frustrated and confused student body.
Note: The statistics used in the post are from Sunday June 20th at 6:26pm
