<p>I’ve never seen that FB page but I have certainly heard the stories (and seen the copied posts!) about kids posting way too much information there, and yes, about the horror story posts. I don’t know what kids are thinking either, and I would hope that the parents here have advised their kids against doing this. It is such a mistake.</p>
<p>You all bring up some great points about the negatives in posting things on social media. The opposite can also be true. One school sees a student tweeting or facebooking excitedly about an acceptance at a different school, and they are reassured that the three minutes they spent with that student wasn’t just a fluke – another school found that person to be talented, too.</p>
<p>And maybe then they feel even better about extending an offer…and maybe they think they need to recommend a bigger scholarship in order to entice the student to give them a harder look. These are competitive people. It’s entirely possible that hearing about a student’s acceptance elsewhere will spur them on to try to be the one the student says yes to. </p>
<p>Our kids have spent years training and fighting for this. Their friends and families all over the country and the world have been following their journeys. They’ve seen them shine on the stage at age 10. They’ve watched these kids win competitions and supported them when they didn’t get the roles they wanted. And after all this, after years of preparing to audition for colleges, and after all the tears and fears and roller coaster rides of emotions, they should not post about an acceptance on social media? Don’t forget that this is their generation’s method of communication with extended family and friends. And for many people on Facebook, if you can see their posts, you are their friend. If you’re not their friend, you often can’t see their posts (depending on the settings). </p>
<p>Additionally, the truth is that these kids are going to need to be experts at social media in order to self-promote. If they can already do that well, that is a plus! They might be seen as a great student to plug their school and their school’s program. Many schools have students posting here to promote and bring awareness to their programs. Social media is seen mostly as a friend, not an enemy. </p>
<p>I agree that disparaging posts about a program head are a bad idea, and if my kid did that, I’d be mad. However, the disaster posts were made in a private group. There is a layer of safety added to that, and these 17-year-olds need a place to let their hair down for once. About kids who made up stuff in their interviews because they were stumped by a question–if I were a program head, I’d probably laugh and see that as a positive. The student just did a fantastic job at improv. </p>
<p>I feel like we parents live with a lot of fear during this audition process, and we constantly find things to worry about and warn our very mature kids about. It’s a terribly stressful process, and we want our kids to have every fighting chance to get into a school–so much that we sometimes forget they are kids and not robots. But I don’t think the program department heads have forgotten. I think most college instructors rather enjoy the age our kids are, and they understand them. I don’t think they would be put off in the slightest by a student expressing joy out loud. In fact, that might just make them think they’ve found a real person underneath all the formality.</p>
<p>My son’s audition coach advised him not to publicly post acceptances during the audition process. I don’t mind–and even enjoy–reading others’ good news but I think it was good advice. I was worried that any other possible offers could be affected by the schools knowing that he was accepted elsewhere. I might have overthought it, but as we all know this process is stressful enough! But I also see the other side mentioned here–posting acceptances might make a school want him more and increase financial aid offers. Sigh. I stopped trying to “figure out” this whole process months ago! 
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<p>I’m not posting any acceptances until my son’s final decision is made. We can be figured out and many college folks are on this site.</p>
<p>I’m in @asstToTheMT’s camp. Well said.</p>
<p>There is no privacy on the Internet, even in closed groups. I once heard a child psychologist talk and she said you should only put things on the Internet that you would not mind putting on a billboard in Times Square. I thought that was wonderful advice. It is very easy to share info on the closed groups. Posts can be cut and pasted, then emailed on to hundreds of people showing not only the comments but also the name and picture of commenters, and time and date comment was made. Or in the case of The Unified group, it would be very easy for someone to falsify info to look like a MT student and join, as long as someone is willing to let them. Another way of sharing the info is for a member of the group to show it to others. That could easily happen if students at a school choose to show it to faculty.</p>
<p>@SU88BFA – I totally respect that. Just providing another angle. </p>
<p>@weski2 – I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I would even add that if someone is underhanded enough to falsify info to look like an MT student, they’re probably underhanded enough to make up something totally false about someone without needing to read a single one of their posts. </p>
<p>I just don’t think a student sharing an acceptance or a funny or awkward story about an audition is going to make any director cut that person from their yes list. I’m sure they can relate to all of those emotions from their side of the table. Kids being human is not a negative trait. </p>
<p>As I said before, posting disparaging comments about an adjudicator is a really bad idea. </p>
<p>Interesting discussion! </p>
<p>I was mostly referring to the derogatory comments about faculty and other remarks being made on FB, not necessarily just posting acceptances. There are also kids on there that have parents on faculty at some of the schools often discussed. As someone already posted, many parents have access to their children’s accounts, so they may very well be seeing the posts for themselves. </p>
<p>It is often discussed here on CC that everyone should watch their behavior and what they say at auditions (even when not in front of the auditors) because you never know who is watching and listening. This is good advice in the professional world at auditions as well. The Internet should be no different. For people whose careers will be very dependent on PR, it would be wise for them to learn some Internet discretion. Those types of comments could come back to haunt them.</p>
<p>I just read an incredibly heartbreaking story of a military wife who learned about her pilot husband’s crash first via Facebook, and then later, his death the same way. I got 2 lessons from it. There are things more important than someone’s feelings hurt over learning of another kid’s acceptance to an MT program. BUT - there are times when being the first to post some breaking news is not only insensitive, but potentially devastating. Although this is certainly an extreme example, perhaps we should all think before we post, about whether it is something that needs to go public, and whether it would be better to wait a bit… </p>
<p>One of the kids on the FB page said to get over it…posting an acceptance is not competition and if you are going to be in this business you shouldn’t be so sensitive…. found that interesting</p>
<p>I usually post on the Theater/Drama forum but I had to comment on this one in response to MT4Life’s post. My D’s father died unexpectedly a few years ago while she was away at a rural summer camp. Word of his passing spread like wildfire on FB while I completely panicked that she would somehow get access to the internet before I could make the cross country trek to reach her and tell her the news in person. It was utterly gut wrenching and as much as I begged people on FB to control the information, it was already out there. Thank God I made it in time to tell her first (which was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do - let alone traveling for 18 hours during the night unexpectedly all the while praying that she didn’t find out via FB or other social media outlets). Completely changed my perception of the internet and the information I chose to disseminate thereon. </p>
<p>annelisesmom, I’m so sorry, and what a heart wrenching story. How brave you were to drive all night. You were a hero.</p>
<p>@anneliesesmom. I’m so sorry. That is a very scary story. And you are indeed a hero Mom for making that journey. </p>
<p>Thank you for the kind words! Not a hero. Just a mom. :)</p>