Users

Each member of Amherst Commons has a user account. A list of all users is available in a panel on the right-hand side of the platform. You can send a user a direct message by clicking on their name.

Channels

Channels are the primary tool for organizing discourse on Amherst Commons.

A channel is like a category or general theme of discussion. Examples of channels are art, travel, books, for sale, etc. All conversations happen within a channel. If no existing channel seems to fit, create one if you believe it has general appeal and utility. Use the offtopic channel for the most esoteric conversations.

Please look through the existing channels and subscribe to the ones you like, mute the ones you don't, and create ones that are missing.

Topics

Topics are the individual conversations that take place within specific channels. A topic could be created for a football game happening at Amherst, a trip you're planning, or a job opportunity.

Topics are self-contained threads of discourse about a particular topic.

Conventions

If you're feeling extroverted, create a new topic introducing yourself in the hellos channel.

Consider joining or creating a channel for your graduating class (e.g. class of 1994).

Create a topic named after yourself (for me, that's "Sawyer Pollard") in the updates channel. There you can share updates about your life, write essays, post photos, or whatever else.