It’s no secret that social media is a part of daily life and the past few years it’s made a noticeable impact on OHS.

“I think social media has been a great way for students to communicate,” Alyssa Johnston (10) said.

Upper and underclassmen alike have been using the sites to connect with one another.

“I think it’s brought not just our school (OHS) but the entire Oakville community together,” Belma Mujakic (12) said, “even Mehlville.”

In addition to bringing staff and students together, school social media seems to be informing them.

“The school social media pages have been really helpful to the student body,” Heidi Niedermann (11) said, “because of the availability of information on the sites.”

Niedermann uses them to check for school schedule updates.

“If there’s a snow day I always go to Instagram right away instead of going to my email because they always post it instantly,” Niedermann said.

Niedermann isn’t the only student who gets more information from a social media page than an email.

“I feel like more people are showing up because of it…because they’re constantly told about these events or things that are going on,” Mujakic said, “unlike reading their emails. No one does that.”

Due to the array of dates and locations on the sites, student participation has been affected by the social media accounts.

“More people have been showing up to sports games and other events outside of school,” Johnston said. “Compared to last year, the school spirit and collaboration has only gotten better…”

In addition to the accounts themselves spreading information, the students reposting to their story has influenced many to come to school events.

“I see it (event dates) on people’s stories, and I wouldn’t know when games are if people didn’t do that,” Niedermann said.

While many are assisted by the school posts, the act of posting itself is helpful to a handful of students.

“Running two [school] social media accounts has made a major impact on me during high school,” Mujakic said.

Mujakic is a known contributor to the school’s journalism and boy’s basketball accounts.

“I love seeing the interactions and the followers going up,” Mujakic said. “Or when I hear in the hallway ‘Hey, did you see what Tigerjournalism posted?’ it makes me happy.”

During her high school years, Mujakic has managed to turn the posting into a platform many can not only learn from, but enjoy.

“I’ve had so much fun experimenting with different designs and techniques to gain followers and grow our account,” Mujakic said.

While she posts for the benefit of the school, Mujakic also has a personal tie to the accounts.

“People are enjoying my content,” Mujakic said. “It makes me happy to see that I have an impact on the school.”