3 ms·

My children's school communicates a lot of information through their Facebook page. I had to reactivate my dead account after years when my kid started kinderga

by beart 5y ago

My children's school communicates a lot of information through their Facebook page. I had to reactivate my dead account after years when my kid started kindergarten. There was particularly important information that they did not send out anywhere but on Facebook. Meanwhile, they have a "news" page on their actual school website that has not been updated in years. I hate it and I think it should be illegal to force the use of a private, ad-driven platform for public/governmental information. Facebook may count me as a user, but my account has absolutely no information listed about myself and the only pages I subscribe to are for the school.

jeffsyacht 5y ago
I notice the same thing with local governments, where the Office of Emergency Management or Police will post updates about public safety to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Worse now with these services requiring login to see the pages, so now without an account I cannot get the information. This should absolutely not be allowed.
jhickok 5y ago
Same. My kids are in sports and Facebook is how they communicate with us, including changes to schedules, "snack duty", pictures and videos from games, etc. It's basically impossible to be a judicious parent and not be on Facebook for me.
- basisword 5y ago
  I ask this seriously because I’m curious: have either you or the parent comment talked the school/clubs about communicating via other means? Or indicated Facebook isn’t possible for you?
  - jhickok 5y ago
    I have not. There's really no sense in which Facebook isnt possible for me. I could say that I have privacy concerns but I'm genuinely not interested in being a weirdo parent that puts pressure on my kids. Most of the organizers are just trying to find a platform that is "gated" (by invite only) and everyone uses. Hard to beat FB for that in 2022.
    - basisword 5y ago
      Is it actually used for anything important? When I was in sports clubs pre-internet I can't remember any important communication between leaders/parents other than what was shared at pickup/passed home via the kids. I see lots of kid/parent related stuff done via Facebook with family members with kids + I and am curious how necessary it is (i.e. would I be able to just not use it + still get necessary info).
      - jhickok 5y ago
        It's a good question. For one, ALL communication is done via Facebook, and this includes changes. For example, just today our indoor soccer league had a covid-related cancellation of our games today and tomorrow. If not thru Facebook it would have to be done with phone calls or email, both of which are possible but more difficult to manage.
rendall 5y ago
My kid's school uses software called Wilma to communicate with us parents. It suffers from the problems that all enterprise software suffers, but has no ads or tracking and is at least ostensibly secure. Its android app has a rating of 1.9, but jeez, at least it's not Facebook. https://www.visma.fi/wilma/en/ https://www.visma.fi/wilma/en/

by beart 5y ago

jeffsyacht 5y ago

I notice the same thing with local governments, where the Office of Emergency Management or Police will post updates about public safety to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Worse now with these services requiring login to see the pages, so now without an account I cannot get the information. This should absolutely not be allowed.

jhickok 5y ago

Same. My kids are in sports and Facebook is how they communicate with us, including changes to schedules, "snack duty", pictures and videos from games, etc. It's basically impossible to be a judicious parent and not be on Facebook for me.

basisword 5y ago
I ask this seriously because I’m curious: have either you or the parent comment talked the school/clubs about communicating via other means? Or indicated Facebook isn’t possible for you?
- jhickok 5y ago
  I have not. There's really no sense in which Facebook isnt possible for me. I could say that I have privacy concerns but I'm genuinely not interested in being a weirdo parent that puts pressure on my kids. Most of the organizers are just trying to find a platform that is "gated" (by invite only) and everyone uses. Hard to beat FB for that in 2022.
  - basisword 5y ago
    Is it actually used for anything important? When I was in sports clubs pre-internet I can't remember any important communication between leaders/parents other than what was shared at pickup/passed home via the kids. I see lots of kid/parent related stuff done via Facebook with family members with kids + I and am curious how necessary it is (i.e. would I be able to just not use it + still get necessary info).
    - jhickok 5y ago
      It's a good question. For one, ALL communication is done via Facebook, and this includes changes. For example, just today our indoor soccer league had a covid-related cancellation of our games today and tomorrow. If not thru Facebook it would have to be done with phone calls or email, both of which are possible but more difficult to manage.

rendall 5y ago

My kid's school uses software called Wilma to communicate with us parents. It suffers from the problems that all enterprise software suffers, but has no ads or tracking and is at least ostensibly secure. Its android app has a rating of 1.9, but jeez, at least it's not Facebook. https://www.visma.fi/wilma/en/ https://www.visma.fi/wilma/en/