Comments Closed? Not Here
On Sept. 28, OHSU closed commenting on all OHSU Now posts with a nebulous promise of a new platform that would be announced at some future date. Local 328 feels that this was a mistake for several reasons, and that it will only serve to further separate OHSU employees from the decision-makers who impact our lives, our livelihoods, our patients and our communities.
Have you ever worked in a department where, rather than address the behavior of a single employee who is causing problems, the manager implements rules and changes that negatively affect even the good employees? This is a sign of bad management and it’s what’s being done with the OHSU Now comments section.
We empathize with OHSU Now’s moderators. We know that it’s not pleasant to deal with hostile commenters or try to stem a tide of disinformation, and that it’s not practical to spend most of one’s workday moderating blog comments. Surely there were other solutions than simply turning off comments for all comments, for everyone, however. What about turning on comment approval for posts that are likely to attract problematic comments, or turning off commenting for those types of posts only? What about suspending the commenting privileges of the employees who’ve made hateful comments?
Despite the negatives, a lot of positive comments and community have come from engagement with the posts on OHSU Now. Employees felt less alone in the frustrations that are inevitable as we work through a deadly pandemic. We got to tell our colleagues how proud we were when they were featured in posts about their work at OHSU. Common questions were asked in the comments and the answers that were shared helped everyone. Rather than leaving open that opportunity to be heard, every positive benefit has been stifled in order to deal with the individuals who’ve caused problems. Why throw out the baby with the bath water?
OHSU reports that only 15% of its members commented on OHSU Now. Commenting on a blog is only one indicator of engagement, however. The vast majority of people who read a blog — not just OHSU Now — are unlikely to comment, but they still engage with posts and read the comments. Other indicators of engagement include the number of views, likes and shares. Reviewing this information on OHSU Now reveals that very few people are engaging with the posts at all, much less commenting on them. It’s difficult for people whose jobs don’t involve sitting in front of a computer all day — such as our members who work to keep employees and patients fed, who provide direct patient care and who keep OHSU’s facilities clean and functional — to find the time to read OHSU Now. What steps has OHSU taken to increase engagement on OHSU Now?
Open communication literally saves lives at OHSU. As a teaching institution, OHSU has an obligation to create an environment that fosters the exchange of ideas and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and discussion. OHSU’s own post about turning off comments stated “Conversation is vital, and dialogue can be healthy.” Management should look for ways to foster more communication, not stifle it.
The Local 328 blog welcomes comments from our members and always will.
Our blog is one of the best ways our union has to communicate to and with our represented employees, and the feedback we receive from our commenters is invaluable to us. Especially during bargaining, conversations in our blog comments helped our bargaining team gauge how our membership felt about contract proposals and gave our members a place to encourage one another to keep fighting for a good contract. (It should be noted that OHSU had no problem turning off commenting on individual OHSU Now posts when it came to its own bargaining updates in 2019.)
When OHSU leadership releases a statement and never hears feedback, it’s easy for them to tell themselves that things are going in the right direction, no matter how their actions (or inaction) affect employees. When communication only goes one way, it’s too easy to ignore what’s happening to those on the front lines. Our union doesn’t want to make decisions in a vacuum, and that’s one of the reasons why our blog comments remain open, even when the feedback is difficult to hear.
The Local 328 blog is intended to be a space for members of our bargaining unit to have conversations with union leadership and with one another. We’re especially looking forward to communicating with our members about contract negotiations, which will start up again soon! Please click here to review our commenting guidelines, and weigh in the next time you want to share your thoughts about union news or your work life at OHSU. We want to hear from you!**
**In addition to maintaining open comments on our blog, our union also occasionally publishes guest posts written by our members. Please reach out to Jennifer Barker, the chair of Local 328’s internal-communications committee, if you’re a dues-paying member with an interest in writing a guest post for our blog.