DIS places an increasing emphasis on community-building beyond the physical campus, particularly through digital media. In previous years, lunch clubs and student-led groups used platforms such as Instagram to channel moments of their academic journey, promote events, and celebrate accomplishments. Over time, social media began to play a substantive role in facilitating schoolwide communication and creative initiatives beyond the DIS community.
On Dec. 4 2025, the administration took steps to guide this public presence, streamlining online communication through the single, official DIS account. The decision to phase out independent club pages stemmed from concerns over “child safeguarding, representation of the DIS brand, professionalism, and effectiveness,” according to communications with the student body.
Headmaster Mr. Jolly said, “The main reason we implemented the new policy was to safeguard students and the school’s image. Previously, there was no vetting of photos or articles or comments by teachers, administrators, staff, or faculty. And so in the past, anything could have gone up on those pages through any of the clubs without anyone checking it from an adult’s point of view.” The editorial staff acknowledges the validity of these concerns and supports the regulation.
Sophie Lee, president of the Jets Advertising Agency, said, “We have a lot of different lunch clubs and ASAs at our school, but I think because we’re all branches of DIS, it’s good to have one main, official channel. Sometimes it’s overwhelming to have all these different accounts posting different things, and not all content aligns with DIS’s values.”
Student-led promotions, however, functioned as more than just publicity, allowing teams and organizations to communicate in quick, creative ways with their intended audiences. Though the new measure encourages clubs to continue to showcase their work and spotlight upcoming events through Mrs. Katie Kim, Head of Marketing, it has unintentionally reduced student participation rather than redirecting it.
Olya Karpenko, girls’ volleyball and basketball manager said, “Last year, when we didn’t have the policy, we could post practice videos, posters about the next game, and the lineups. But with the new policy, uploading content was a challenge for us, and we just decided not to post.”
Lunch club social media managers express similar thoughts on the cumbersome protocol. Niha Banerjee, Students Organizing Against Racism (SOAR) Webmaster, said, “At first, I tried to make posters and send them to Ms. Nagy to give to Ms. Katie, but it was honestly a hassle. Not only was it difficult because we needed to go through a lot of steps to post content, but the whole process made it hard to promote our events in a timely manner.”
This shift coincides with a decline in activity on the main school account. Kim said, “The school account used to cross-post with other clubs and it’s true that interaction has decreased a lot recently. I especially miss how our sports teams used to post the playing schedules and team photos.”
The reduced output also raises concerns that centralization without consistent posting undercuts the fundamentals of effective communication. Lee said, “Despite the good intent behind the new policy, I do think there is a decline in advertisement and promotion. People kind of just gave up. Effective advertising depends on repeated messaging from all forms of media. The main account is good, but also seeing frequent instagram posts across multiple accounts is important.”
The new system ultimately relies on student engagement. Clubs should continue to produce content and display their achievements and progress through the main account despite the lengthier procedure. Kim said, “There are always going to be new policies and new changes that aren’t always welcomed by everyone, but I hope students know that we are trying to protect them. I really liked how students made posters for events, and I wish more students would send me things to post even though the process is a little more difficult now.”
