By Rory Collins

As of 2019, social media has had its biggest impact on communities across the country. Roughly 223 million Americans have used social media this year, with 65% of this number being young people. Every year this number increases, sometimes by a lot and sometimes by just the smallest bit. Here at Beaver, we have a very large population of social media users. Whether it’s the Instagram for the school, just the students’ personal profiles, or club profiles, everyone at this school has been exposed to some social media app containing an account affiliated with Beaver. 

“I follow 2 accounts associated with Beaver” says Toby Otting, class of ‘23 student council representative, “I follow them because I think they are positively impactful and they deliver information to students and can get people hyped up about events.” These accounts help students know when Beaverl has big events coming up, or when there are days off. They are another way to take part in the Beaver community, without being so big of a deal that people who don’t follow them feel left out.

“The only account I follow is the Beaver school Instagram” explains Nadya Ansari ‘23, “I think it has a good impact on students because it shows the variety of things Beaver students work on. We can see what many students are really passionate about, which also shows a lot about the school. I think it helps people looking to apply to see what the school is all about.”  Even though the students at Beaver can follow Instagram for current events and such, it also helps incoming students understand what we do in school and what they could expect from an average class at Beaver. The students looking to apply can also see what events are coming up, so if they choose to come to Beaver they will know what might happen while they are there. 

However, there are more accounts than just the general Beaver one. Many of the clubs and teams at Beaver have made platforms for themselves and others to follow. Some examples are: Beaver field hockey, Beaver bots, Beaver dam force, Beaver soccer, Beaver Reader (follow us! @beaverreader) and many more. These accounts are student-run, either by club leaders or team captains. 

I asked Grace Babb, field hockey captain and class of ‘20, how she felt about running an account for her sport and what it did to help the team. “I chose to create an account for our team to draw more attention and awareness to our team and season.” She expresses it was also meant “to build morale and our fan base as well as a place to share photos from our season.” In terms of how she believed the account worked for the team, she stated, “I think it has helped us stay connected and inform more people about our season and bring us closer together as a team and has helped us get excited for games.”