In late October, Student Government launched USFSP Bull Board, a closed Facebook group that will allow students, faculty, staff and alumni to ask questions and to post about upcoming events.
Hector Santiago, acting student body vice president, said the idea for Bull Board came to Student Government during its fall retreat earlier this semester.
“We noticed there was a problem with external communication and wanted to do something about it,” said Santiago.
External communication is a way for students and other campus affiliates to communicate about various topics that are unrelated online.
Before the creation of the Bull Board, the only form of external communication was the USFSP Know It All’s Guide to Knowing It All, an unofficial Facebook group for the school. It currently has more than 3,700 members compared to Bull Board’s 336.
The Know It All’s Guide launched in December of 2010 to serve a similar purpose to the new Bull Board. However, over the past few years, the dynamic of the guide has shifted.
“Students get attacked by trolls for posting simple questions on the Know It All’s Guide,” said Santiago “Some student leaders have even been blocked for posting something that one of the administrators or moderators of the page didn’t agree with.”
Unlike the Know It All’s Guide, students won’t get blocked from the Bull Board for posting something that the moderators don’t like. According to the Facebook group description, posts are eligible for removal if they are hurtful to others or have malicious intent. In that case, the admins or student moderators will remove the content.
The page will be run primarily by student moderators from five different organizations. The Office of Leadership and Student Organizations, Student Government, Harborside Activities Board, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and USFSP Connect will each select one of its members to become a designated moderator.
Various administrators will heavily monitor Bull Board in Student Life & Engagement.
Students interested in joining the Bull Board can request to join the group or have a friend who is already a member add them.
