Bulletin Boards, Here to Stay

Between social media networks and emailing, the number of ways to relay a message is vast thanks to technology. The one message-relaying vehicle that college students still find affective on campuses is bulletin boards.

Every day on college campuses all across America, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of flyers and posters are posted on bulletin boards. Why is this basic means of communication still so affective? The answer is accessibility.

“I walk past bulletin boards everyday and always see stuff posted on them. It’s hard to miss,” said Brittany Baron, a junior at the University of Tampa.

Bulletin boards are everywhere around the University of Tampa campus. Most students walk past dozens everyday on their way to class or their dorms. What do students look at while they’re waiting for the elevator? What do students look at when they walk into the computer labs? Bulletin boards.

Most college students spend hours upon hours each day doing their work, research, and site browsing making it easy to access email and social media networks. Email and Facebook are currently the two most popular ways people communicate with each other using words. They are easy to use, fast, and free.

Social media networks have become the dominating trend among Americans young and old. On sites such as Facebook, people can create groups and communicate with others about specific interests, beliefs, professions, and hobbies. This has become a very effective way of delivering messages to specific demographics. The problem with Facebook is that everyone may not view the message and the right people may not even get it.

“I love Facebook, but I usually delete messages if they’re not from my friends,” said Alexa Albanese, a University of Tampa sophomore.

Bulletin boards don’t discriminate. Everyone on a campus will more than likely walk past a bulletin board every day and may find something new and interesting to them.

Emailing has become a very useful communication tool. One of the most common ways college universities and their organizations deliver messages is through emails. The funny thing is, many of the important messages that are sent through emails are posted on bulletin boards.

Not everyone thinks bulletin boards are an effective way to deliver a message.

“I have never read a flyer on a bulletin board I think,” said Nicole Caouette, a junior at the University of Tampa.

For some people, bulletin boards are simply a thing-of-the-past. Caouette added that she receives her messages through emails and Facebook on a regular basis. Many college students may agree with Caouette. Who has the time to stop and read every flyer and poster on a bulletin board?

It all depends on the person. Some may see a graphic or certain phrase that catches their attention which will lead them to read a message. Others will walk past a bulletin board day after day even if the message posted is very important to them. That’s just reality. If there is one thing that’s certain, it’s that bulletin boards are still useful and they are here to stay.