Social Media Ban

Navigating the New Social Media Landscape: Important Changes for Our Pony Club Community

New Social Media Rules Coming December 2025

As many of you may have heard, Australia will introduce significant changes to social media access for young people later this year. From December 2025, children under 16 will be prohibited from accessing major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. This legislation represents one of the world's strictest approaches to protecting young people online.

What This Means for Our Pony Club Families

For our Pony Club community, these changes will affect how we connect with our junior members and share the wonderful achievements, events, and memories that make our sport so special. Parents will not be able to provide consent for under-16s to access these platforms, meaning our traditional social media channels will no longer reach a significant portion of our membership.

However, this also presents an opportunity to strengthen our direct connections with families and return to more personal, community-focused communication methods.

How Pony Clubs around Victoria Will Adapt

To help clubs navigate these new rules, we have put together some essential communication tips for your club to implement 

Building Better Email Connections

Getting Started with Email Your club can really shine by:

• Collecting email addresses whenever you meet families - at sign-ups, events, even casual conversations
• Creating different email groups for parents, junior riders, senior members, and volunteers
• Setting up friendly welcome emails through your JustGo system for new families
• Sending regular newsletters that feel like catching up with friends rather than formal announcements
• Making sure your emails actually reach everyone by checking they're not ending up in spam folders

Free Email Tools to Try If you need alternatives to JustGo, popular free options include MailerLite (great for beginners), Brevo (perfect for small daily sends), and Mailchimp (ideal for small businesses). There are many more - Simply Google "Free Newsletter Platforms" 

Making Your Website a Welcoming Place

Creating a Digital Home Your website can become the heart of your club by:

• Sharing fresh stories about your members and their achievements every week
• Creating special sections just for your club families with insider news and photos
• Writing friendly blog posts that capture the personality and spirit of your club
• Building beautiful photo galleries that parents love to browse and share with family
• Offering helpful downloads like event info and safety tips that make parents' lives easier

Personal Touch Communications

Keeping It Human Nothing beats personal connection, so try:

• Collecting phone numbers for those important last-minute updates about weather or changes
• Setting up friendly text reminders about upcoming events and activities
• Making welcoming phone calls to new families and checking in with members who've been quiet
• Creating buddy systems where experienced families help newcomers feel at home
• Having regular informal chats with members to see how they're enjoying their Pony Club experience

Free Text Messaging Options For group messaging, consider free platforms like GroupMe or Team App for informal club chats. For more professional SMS updates, services like Text-Em-All, SimpleTexting, and EZ Texting offer free trials and affordable plans perfect for club announcements and event reminders.

Bringing People Together

Face-to-Face is Still Best Your club can create wonderful connections by:

• Hosting casual coffee mornings where parents can chat and get to know each other
• Organizing regular social events that bring the whole club family together
• Running parent information sessions that feel more like friendly discussions than formal presentations
• Planning fun volunteer days where everyone can contribute and connect
• Creating opportunities for members to share their experiences and celebrate achievements together

Getting Creative with Communication

Mix It Up Keep things interesting by:

• Creating beautiful printed newsletters to hand out at events
• Setting up engaging notice boards with photos, achievements, and upcoming fun
• Producing friendly member welcome packs that make new families feel special
• Trying video calls for committee meetings and member catch-ups when distance is a challenge

Free Design and Communication Tools Canva offers free templates perfect for newsletters and flyers, while Google Workspace provides free email, document sharing, and video calling for your committee. For notice boards and printed materials, Microsoft Publisher alternatives like Scribus are completely free. Zoom offers free video calls for up to 40 minutes, perfect for committee meetings.

Connecting with Your Community

Spreading the Word Your club can reach more families by:

• Building friendships with local schools who might love to learn about horses and riding
• Connecting with your local newspaper to share your members' wonderful stories
• Getting to know your local radio station who often love supporting community groups
• Partnering with other youth organizations for fun collaborative events
• Working with your local council to promote your club through their community channels

Creating Content That Connects

Share the Love Make your communications warm and engaging by:

• Writing newsletters that feel personal and highlight what makes your club special
• Creating educational content that helps parents understand the benefits their children are gaining
• Sharing individual success stories that celebrate every member's journey
• Taking lots of photos that capture the joy and friendship at your events
• Offering helpful workshops for parents who want to learn more about horses and safety

Free Content Creation Tools Use free tools like Google Photos for organizing and sharing event pictures, or create simple surveys with Google Forms to gather member feedback. For photo editing, GIMP offers professional features at no cost, while Piktochart provides free infographic templates perfect for sharing club information and achievements.

Keeping Track of What Works

Learning and Improving Help your club grow by:

• Asking families what communication methods they prefer and find most helpful
• Noticing which emails get the best response and learning from what works
• Checking your website to see which stories and information members find most interesting
• Celebrating when your events are well-attended after good communication
• Getting feedback from members about how they'd like to stay connected

Your Timeline for Success

Getting Ready

• NOW Start collecting those email addresses and getting familiar with your tools
• October - November: Launch your friendly newsletter program and start building community connections
• Make sure everyone on your committee feels confident with the new systems
• By December 2025: Your club will be brilliantly connected and stronger than ever

What Makes Communication Work

The Secret Ingredients Great club communication comes from:

• Being consistent - regular, friendly contact that members can count on
• Making it personal - messages that speak directly to different families' interests
• Using variety - mixing emails, phone calls, face-to-face chats, and printed materials
• Sharing valuable content - information and stories that members genuinely enjoy receiving
• Listening actively - creating opportunities for members to share their thoughts and ideas

Remember

These changes are happening whether we're ready or not, but they don't have to be stressful. By starting now and focusing on the personal connections that make Pony Club special, your club can emerge from these changes with stronger relationships and happier members than ever before.

Every small step you take now will make a big difference for your club community. Your members will appreciate the effort, and you'll discover that sometimes the old-fashioned ways of connecting - a friendly phone call, a personal chat, a welcoming smile - are still the very best ways to build lasting relationships.

Need help getting started? Don't hesitate to reach out - we're all in this together, and every club's success helps strengthen our entire Pony Club community.