Handing Over the Reins of Communication

The Merging of Maclay Club Pages May Prove Detrimental to Maclay’s Club Population

Photo by dole777 on Unsplash

The 2025-26 school year brings several new policies, one of which includes the implementation of the new Maclay Clubs & Student Life Instagram page. The new account merges all of Maclay’s individual club pages into one, requiring club historians to shut down the pages that they have worked so hard to build. Previously, individual pages gave club historians access to a fun learning opportunity in communication and independence. The new process robs students of this chance to learn how to run an Instagram page, which is an important skill for modern-day careers of all different backgrounds.

Primarily, the new procedure inhibits student independence meant to foster productive growth. Previously, students could choose when their graphics were posted. This benefitted both the innerclub community and the clubs’ followers. With the new process, students still make and send in their graphics, but the point at which these graphics are posted is out of their control. The administration is now in charge of posting for all of Maclay’s clubs, which can cause posts to also be unintentionally forgotten.

“Now I have to fill out the form, and I can select a date, but it is really up to the advancement office on whether they see that,” Maclay Mu Alpha Theta and Maclay Better Together Historian Sophie Lombard said. “At the same time, that's happening with all these other clubs, and they might want something posted on a Monday morning the same as we do.”

In addition, topic specific clubs gain a following that is distinct to their content. For instance, Maclay’s Better Together’s Instagram followers include nonprofit organizations fighting hunger in Tallahassee, while Maclay Junior Classical League’s (JCL) following includes fellow Latin clubs across the country. These are two very different clubs with varied followings. People follow specific club pages because they’re interested in that club’s content. The Maclay Clubs & Student Life page will flood them with content from a whole school of clubs that they aren’t interested in.

“People are particular about what they want to see, so I feel like putting all of this together will probably take away [followers],” former Maclay JCL Historian Lily Smith said.

Not only does social media allow for interclub connections, but it also allows for communication among club members. Individual social media accounts are used to provide timely reminders within the club. When historians were in charge of their own accounts, they had the ability to post updates and schedules when they felt was necessary. The new process will hinder communication within the club as timely reminders will no longer be a guarantee.

“Often I’d make a graphic and I’d post it that same day,” Lombard said. “Especially on Sundays when we want to tell everyone what our weekly schedule is.”

On the other side of the argument are those who believe that the Maclay Clubs & Student Life account allows administration to have a level of control over club posts, and therefore maintains Maclay’s image. In an email that went out to student members of the Interclub Council (ICC), an attached flyer created by the Communications Office explains the goal of the new Instagram page.

“We’ll help your posts look polished and exciting—just send your content and we’ll take care of the rest,” the Communications Office said.

While keeping posts polished and maintaining face are valid concerns, the administration already has access to all of Maclay’s individual club accounts and the authority to take posts down if it appears necessary to do so. This does add extra work for the administration, but the benefit of teaching students how to be independent, especially from a communication standpoint, is worth it.

“Our pages are pretty closely monitored,” Smith said. “[The Communications Office] has the info to login to our page.”

A potential solution is to allow clubs to keep their accounts as long as they specify that they aren’t officially representing Maclay School. The Student Life page can be an addition that gives a more organized view of highlights within each club, but individual clubs can keep their connections and authority within their own pages. 

The administration would still have the same access to individual accounts as they do now, giving them the authority to change whatever they feel necessary to best represent Maclay. Overall, allowing students to maintain their independence while also teaching them the best ways to communicate their ideas would be the most beneficial in the long run.