Group chats are a really effective way of communicating with members of your communities. They enable everyone to stay connected, even when you can’t all be together, and you can easily share consistent information to multiple people in one go. 

However, as the use of group chats has become more commonplace in society, so have the complexities in using them within an ‘organisational’ setting. WhatsApp in particular presents a challenge due to the link with a user’s personal phone number, meaning that it is much harder for individuals to keep a personal and professional lives separate.

Unlike in group chats with friends or family, the content and conduct of participants is starting to become subject to the same kinds of scrutiny and legislation as we might expect if the communication was in person, and as leaders of a community group, committee members and the Union hold some responsibility for managing this the same way.

So what do we do to keep you safe in our group chats? 

1. We create and monitor all the groupchats. 

2. Each year we create a new groupchat to ensure that only current members are in the chat

3. When you join a new student group, you’ll automatically be sent a link to join the groupchat 

4. Our groupchats are set to join via approval only, which means that we regularly check in that the right people are joining the right chats 

5. Only SU staff, committee members or community volunteers are admins in the groupchats 

Due to GDPR reasons, we (or anyone else) can’t add people to the groupchats via their phone numbers, it must be done via the link we send you. The only exception to this is if a student is unable to join via a link, the SU will discuss this with them and gain their permission to add them directly via their number. 

Struggling to join a chat?

If you’re having difficulties joining a group chat then please email us at opportunities@lsbsu.org with the following details:
-Name
-Student ID
-Group you’re trying to join

Easy access to groups, and large participant numbers can also make it hard to track the membership status of the group which could mean they are inadvertently breaching data protection regulations, and/or offering benefits to non-members of the Union. This would not only be unfair on the members who have registered properly, but it would also invalidate the Union’s insurances. This a very significant risk and could lead to the student group being disaffiliated. 

Use of group chats are covered by the SBSU Social Media policy for student groups which means that breaching any of that policy could result in a disciplinary procedure being instigated. We acknowledge that it is particularly hard to navigate this fairly new area of risk, and that this is compounded by the complexity of how student groups operate, therefore, SBSU sets expectations on its student groups who decide to use group chats to communicate to help protect their student leaders; members and the Union itself.

So what do we expect from you?

Read up - Make sure you have read and understood the SBSU Social Media Policy

Role Model - We’ll use the ‘group description’ function to briefly outline rules around acceptable usage, and from time to time post this in the group to remind members.As a member or a student leader, if you see content which is or could be unacceptable, remove it, either explaining why on the chat or privately to the poster. 

New year, New group - Make sure a new group chat is started each year instead of letting existing ones roll over. This stops the possibility of non-members remaining on official Union groups by accident, and it also means that participants from the old group can keep in touch if they want to without being subject to the Union’s terms of affiliation. (just make sure you remove reference to SBSU from the group’s name!)

Members only - Don’t send out links to a whatsapp group to people who are not members. Even if someone tells you they have a membership and wants to join, they still can’t be added via phone number and must be sent the link from us.

Respect the boundaries of others - Set expectations with your members about monitoring and responding. Make it clear what kind of questions are appropriate to ask on the chat, and what aren’t and set times for when members will / won’t get a response, and embed this through role modelling. If you have agreed no responses after 8pm, stick to it - even if it feels easy to respond. This is key for making your group inclusive and accessible. 

Keep it relevant - Only post content that is relevant and useful to your members, this is why they've joined the group chat! And refrain from consistently spamming the chat, as this may lead to removal from the group.

Access for everyone - Every registered member of your group must be given access and allowed to join the group and committee members must make sure they have a system in place to make sure this happens. Members who do not want to, or can not, join must not be excluded from the information posted in the groups. You must use multiple methods of communication to send out key information about your student group’s activity to make sure all can access it, but you should also think about how much of your group’s ‘social’ connection takes place through the group and how this might exclude those who don’t have access. 

Persistent failure to uphold this will be deemed as a significant breach of the student groups affiliation terms and is likely to lead to the group’s disaffiliation if not addressed by student leaders. In some cases this could also lead to disciplinary action being taken against student leaders, members or the group as a whole.

So how do we run the group chats?

Societies
When you begin your time as a Society Committee member, you will be given the link to the new group chat for that academic year, you'll be made an admin along with a member of the SU to help you run the chat! Then you're free to chat to your members, find out what events they'd like to see and keep them updated on anything that's coming up or relevant to them. It is the responsibility of the President & Vice President to ensure that members are having the best and safest experience they can. 

Communities and Networks
Like societies, we'll create a new group chat every academic year.  Everyone is free to chat and contribute to the chat and we'll organise events with your input via these group chats and always keep you updated with what's happening! Although the responsibility of these chats lies with the SU, the same rules and regulations apply to those joining and posting in the group chats.