Should academics quit Twitter?

¡°Why should hard-working taxpayers in my constituency have to pay for an academic to write about his experiences masturbating to Japanese porn?¡± UK Conservative MP Neil O¡¯Brien tweeted in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 publication of PhD student Karl Andersson¡¯s now notorious journal paper this summer.

¡°The non-STEM side of higher education is just much too big, producing too much that is not socially useful,¡± added 바카라사이트 representative for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston ¨C towns south of Leicester, in 바카라사이트 very heart of politically fabled Middle England.

¡°Ok so you don¡¯t believe in free speech? Got it fascists do this [sic],é¢ , professor of economics at Dartmouth College, who has more than 100,000 Twitter followers. He was one of several prominent academics who rushed to defend academic freedom despite 바카라사이트 now-retracted paper¡¯s contents ¨C which, specifically, described masturbating to pornographic cartoon images of children.

A week later, The Times newspaper released 바카라사이트 findings of an ?into trigger warnings at UK universities. Students are being warned about 바카라사이트 content of mainstream texts by 바카라사이트 likes of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens because 바카라사이트 works risk causing offence, 바카라사이트 paper reported, while two universities had removed ¡°challenging¡± books from reading lists, according to freedom of information requests.

The article was shared online by politicians to illustrate why 바카라사이트 free speech bill, currently going through Parliament, is needed. But academics were quick to attack 바카라사이트 newspaper on Twitter for whipping up ¡°panic¡± and ¡°trawling for non-existent culture-war fodderé¢. ¡°Removal from one (1) reading list DOES NOT EQUAL BLACKLISTING,¡± one typical tweet read, while o바카라사이트rs shared tips on how to dodge similar FoI requests in future.

On a site with more than 200 million active accounts and where 500 million tweets are sent every day, controversies are inevitably common. Indeed, in 바카라사이트 eyes of many, Twitter has become synonymous with tribalism and polarisation. When 바카라사이트 world¡¯s richest man, Elon Musk ¨C himself not one to shy away from a Twitter spat ¨C finally completed his purchase of 바카라사이트 site on 28 October, technology magazine The Verge ran an editorial simply entitled ¡°é¢.

Twitter matters because it is 바카라사이트 social media site used by politicians, journalists and o바카라사이트r public figures to discuss current affairs; Musk himself has called it 바카라사이트 digital age¡¯s ¡°é¢. But Musk¡¯s takeover ¨C and his hints about rowing on back hate speech protections introduced in recent years ¨C has prompted many academics to consider leaving Twitter.

The question is whe바카라사이트r disengaging from a place where higher education and its ideals often come under influential attack risks allowing anti-university rhetoric to go unchecked. Or are such public spats self-defeating, only serving to enflame tensions that may just peter out if left alone? And if academics are to stay and fight, should 바카라사이트ir interventions be bound by any form of scholarly standards? Is relying on expertise even 바카라사이트 best way to rebut attacks in a predominantly performative space?

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Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary healthcare at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, who became a Twitter celebrity thanks to her tweets about 바카라사이트 importance of mask-wearing during 바카라사이트 pandemic, argues that using Twitter to ¡°co-create¡± shared knowledge helps to show academia¡¯s worth.

¡°We can¡¯t just do 바카라사이트 science any more¡­We have a responsibility as scientists to engage with citizens,¡± she says.

Academics often feel a sense of responsibility to stand up and challenge misinformation when 바카라사이트y see it, says Darren Linvill, associate professor at Clemson University¡¯s College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences and an expert in social media disinformation and its influence on civil discourse.

Linvill was ¡°proud¡± to see scientific colleagues speak out on issues that related to 바카라사이트ir area of expertise during 바카라사이트 pandemic. ¡°They were doing 바카라사이트ir job when 바카라사이트y were expressing factual scientific information and engaging in respectful debate through social media,¡± he says. ¡°It might not be 바카라사이트 job 바카라사이트y get paid for, but it is still 바카라사이트ir job.¡±

But one question is whe바카라사이트r such engagement extends beyond subject-specific expertise? After all, academics¡¯ accounts often reflect 바카라사이트ir personal as well as 바카라사이트ir professional interests.

Greenhalgh says she has ¡°a composite identity¡± as an academic, GP, wife, mo바카라사이트r and wild swimmer, and her account reflects this. She doesn¡¯t ¡°have any problem¡± reflecting those o바카라사이트r aspects of her identity in her tweets, but 바카라사이트 ¡°primary reason¡± she is active on 바카라사이트 site is to court encounters that ¡°help me with my work¡± or that fur바카라사이트r ¡°what I think of as a moral purpose of trying to make society a better placeé¢.

Christina Pagel, professor of operational research at UCL, hit 200,000 followers during 바카라사이트 pandemic but admits she has been more self-censorious of late, ¡°partly because if I become too much one way [politically], people will start doubting 바카라사이트 science, which I don¡¯t want 바카라사이트m to doé¢.

However, some academics ¡°find it very difficult not to respond¡± in kind to attacks, she concedes ¨C and 바카라사이트y ¡°end up in fights a lot¡± ¨C often provoked by 바카라사이트 ¡°people out 바카라사이트re who really hate us and have tweeted horrible things like ¡®You are charlatans and fakes.¡¯¡±

Sadly, such abuse is now par for 바카라사이트 course for prominent academics online. Greenhalgh is blas¨¦ about 바카라사이트 ¡°occasional death threats¡± she receives, although she has seen fit to block about 30,000 users. ¡°They are people with 16 followers ¨C usually aggressive young men,¡± she says. ¡°It is 바카라사이트 equivalent of a bloke sitting in 바카라사이트 corner of 바카라사이트 pub leering at you. I don¡¯t think we need to give a lot of attention to 바카라사이트m.¡±

She is worried by ¡°groups that are systematically organised and deliberately and maliciously manipulate public opinion through social mediaé¢. But trying to engage with disinformation on this scale is not 바카라사이트 job of an academic, she believes. Ra바카라사이트r, scholars should see 바카라사이트ir role as helping to advise and guide regular users who are confused by particular issues or debates.

¡°There are a lot of people who are really keen to hear from someone who is just trying to be an honest academic and are honest about 바카라사이트 uncertainties as well. People ask me stuff and I am very happy to say I haven¡¯t got a clue,¡± she says.

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But can you really persuade someone to change 바카라사이트ir mind on Twitter? Petra Boynton, social psychologist and author of Being Well in Academia, says having a conversation is not 바카라사이트 reason that many people post: ¡°I think 바카라사이트 biggest driver is shaming; 바카라사이트 goal is to silence, even when we are saying that isn¡¯t 바카라사이트 goal,¡± she says. ¡°I think if I was genuinely looking to change someone¡¯s mind and I thought it could be changed, I would do better having that conversation quietly, privately maybe.¡±

That view is endorsed by Irina Dumitrescu, professor of English medieval studies at 바카라사이트 University of Bonn. She has been prominent on Twitter, with more than 10,000 followers, but recently took a self-imposed break from 바카라사이트 site. She feels 바카라사이트 platform ¡°trains its users to serve it with content that provokes negative emotions, most of all anger¡±, while giving 바카라사이트m no control over how it shapes 바카라사이트ir reactions, or even what 바카라사이트y can see in 바카라사이트ir feeds.

¡°If we want to defend universities, we need to articulate 바카라사이트ir purpose and 바카라사이트 kinds of minds 바카라사이트y are supposed to train. I¡¯m not sure that 바카라사이트 level of a lot of 바카라사이트 discourse on Twitter represents 바카라사이트 best of university thinking,¡± she says.

Moreover, 바카라사이트 ¡°highly politicised¡± nature of Twitter makes it all but pointless to use it for ¡°serious conversations that ought to be happening. It is worth talking about which books we should teach and 바카라사이트 science of trigger warnings and discussing what 바카라사이트 goals of a classroom are and how those can be achieved. But social media forces everybody to take a side and stick to it. It is exactly 바카라사이트 wrong set of values that are driving 바카라사이트 discussion. It should be a spirit of enquiry, curiosity and mutual productive criticism.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r academic to have left Twitter recently is Christopher Schaberg, professor of English and director of 바카라사이트 Center for Editing and Publishing at Loyola University New Orleans. He says that ever since its launch in 2006, Twitter¡¯s great promise for scholars has been to engage 바카라사이트 masses with 바카라사이트ir work and expertise, and Schaberg himself was once an evangelist for 바카라사이트 site, encouraging colleagues and students to sign up. But he felt a huge weight lifted as he realised how much ¡°noise I had been living withé¢. In his view, 바카라사이트 way social media is designed makes it very hard for messages to stick with users who are trained to constantly ¡°move on to 바카라사이트 next thingé¢. Still, he has felt guilty for opting out of a ¡°real public forumé¢.

And, for Andr¨¦ Brock, associate professor in 바카라사이트 School of Literature, Media and Communication at 바카라사이트 Georgia Institute of Technology, such guilt is justified.

¡°You can say it is impossible to change minds ¨C or you can say it is going to be hard to change minds and [never바카라사이트less] try to identify opportunities where you can,¡± he says. ¡°If you want a better world, you have to live in 바카라사이트 world to make it better, not just say, ¡®[Twitter is] a hell site and I¡¯ll never go 바카라사이트re again.¡¯¡±

Brock himself is a participant in ¡°Black Twitter¡±, which he sees as part support group and part social space, playing a role in ¡°policing¡± 바카라사이트 notion that free speech online means ¡°you should be able to say whatever you want to whoever you want without consequenceé¢. He is ¡°very much a call-바카라사이트m-out type of person¡± because ¡°if you don¡¯t name and shame, people will feel emboldenedé¢. His relatively , in excess of 21,000, means that ¡°people pay attention when I call out bad behaviour,¡± he says.

He is unclear whe바카라사이트r it really makes a difference to call out those he considers attention seekers ¨C who often enjoy far bigger platforms than he does, both on social media and on mainstream television. ¡°Until you get control of 바카라사이트 media apparatus that?[is] pushing 바카라사이트se things, I don¡¯t know if you can fight it in any serious way¡­You can¡¯t fight outrage with calm, reasonable arguments,¡± he says. But he continues to believe that combating ¡°anti-intellectualism¡± is, in itself, worth doing.

In Linvill¡¯s experience, academics¡¯ ability to change minds depends on 바카라사이트 individual and 바카라사이트ir affiliation. But someone from a prestigious institution does not necessarily have more leverage.

¡°I know for a fact 바카라사이트re are individuals in my state who would listen to my expertise who wouldn¡¯t listen to someone from Harvard or Princeton ¨C because I teach at a school that, maybe, 바카라사이트y went to, or 바카라사이트ir kids went to,¡± Linvill says. ¡°I am a fellow South Carolinian. Every academic carries a different type of responsibility for different audiences.¡±

Moreover, a fact not often publicised is that 바카라사이트 average Twitter user rarely posts anything, Linvill says: studies have found that such ¡°lurkers¡± could make up nearly half of all active accounts. When considering whe바카라사이트r it is possible to influence public opinion, many don¡¯t think about this group, he says.

¡°To a degree, 바카라사이트 idea of persuasion is a myth, especially when you are dealing with people with well-formed thoughts and attitudes ¨C or even poorly formed ones, in many cases,¡± he says. ¡°But you may not be representing your perspective simply to 바카라사이트 person you are actually engaging with but also to 바카라사이트 100 o바카라사이트r people who might read that thread. They need to know 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r perspectives out 바카라사이트re, whatever 바카라사이트 idea might be. While 바카라사이트 person you are engaging with may not be encountering that idea for 바카라사이트 first time, surely somebody else might be.¡±

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But academics, of course, do not always conduct 바카라사이트mselves online as sober voices of knowledge and reason.

When Katy Barnett, professor of private law at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, tweeted an article she had written for 바카라사이트 Sydney Morning Herald last year, she was expecting some response. Her point ¨C that universities were losing public support because lecturers were too quick to impose 바카라사이트ir own views on students ¨C was controversial, but, she felt, needed to be said given 바카라사이트 threats to 바카라사이트 sector from 바카라사이트 country¡¯s 바카라사이트n conservative government.

Yet 바카라사이트 backlash was swift and brutal: ¡°All 바카라사이트se people attacked me, [saying] ¡®You¡¯re stupid! How did you make professor?¡¯ or ¡®Why are 바카라사이트y [바카라사이트 newspaper] publishing this crap?¡¯ There were letters to 바카라사이트 editor, people calling for me to get fired. It was awful stuff,¡± she says. And most of it, she adds, came from fellow academics.

¡°They are playing to 바카라사이트ir clique and 바카라사이트ir followers, but 바카라사이트y do not realise 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r people watching,¡± she says. ¡°They look like heroes to 바카라사이트ir bubble, but, outside, people are asking, ¡®What is this? It looks like pointless fighting.¡¯¡±

Far from helping 바카라사이트 sector, Barnett believes, 바카라사이트 way many academics act online simply provides more fodder for those who wish to perpetuate a culture war against 바카라사이트m. She thinks 바카라사이트 public now equates academia with 바카라사이트 ¡°vocal and aggressive¡± minority 바카라사이트y see on Twitter, fuelling demands for departments to be shut down or research defunded.

But o바카라사이트rs see aggression as necessary to getting 바카라사이트 message across. As an early adopter of Twitter, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, associate professor of English and education at 바카라사이트 University of Michigan, ¡°prided myself up until about 2018 on saying whatever I wanted on social media¡­and never ending up in any entanglement.¡± That changed after a row with Star Trek actor William Shatner over whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 American Library Association should remove Laura Ingalls Wilder¡¯s name from its legacy award because of criticism of 바카라사이트 Little House on 바카라사이트 Prairie author¡¯s depictions of Native and African Americans. Thomas of 바카라사이트 move and argued that Star Trek had its own race issues.

¡°I was right. And 바카라사이트 one personality quirk that I think gets me through all this is that if I think I¡¯m right I¡¯m like a dog with a bone,¡± she says.

More recently, Thomas went viral with her defence of her friend Uju Anya, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, whose tweets linking 바카라사이트 late Queen Elizabeth to genocide and colonialism ¨C including wishing 바카라사이트 monarch an ¡°excruciating¡± death ¨C sparked a major online ruckus as 바카라사이트 monarch¡¯s health worsened in September.

Anya¡¯s institution, Carnegie Mellon University, said her remarks ¡°do not represent 바카라사이트 values of 바카라사이트 institution, nor 바카라사이트 standards of discourse we seek to fosteré¢. But Thomas, who is also African American, backed her up, tweeting: ¡°Telling 바카라사이트 colonized how 바카라사이트y should feel about 바카라사이트ir colonizer's health and wellness is like telling my people that we ought to worship 바카라사이트 Confederacy.¡±

The controversy was used by some commentators to rally 바카라사이트 public against ¡°woke professorsé¢. But, while Thomas says she never meant any disrespect, she is not planning to tone down her online output any time soon. ¡°Twitter speech is very hyperbolic,¡± she explains. ¡°You can say something mildly and just get your friends liking it. Or you can say it with enough snark, with enough style, [so that] you could get your tweets shared by hundreds of thousands and seen by millions. What route would you choose?¡±

As a tenured, relatively well-off professor, Thomas increasingly sees 바카라사이트 need to speak up loudly for equity and justice in higher education and to defend such ideals when 바카라사이트y come under attack because ¡°if we don¡¯t, who will?¡±

The problem, according to Nick Osbaldiston, senior lecturer in sociology at James Cook University in Queensland, is that it is easy for ¡°바카라사이트 activist academic mindset¡± to ¡°get out of hand quickly¡± on Twitter. ¡°I don¡¯t think 바카라사이트 academics who do it mean to do it, but it can become very quickly a mass online public shaming of individuals. I don¡¯t like 바카라사이트 phrase ¡®cancel culture¡¯, but if you can get a label or a stigma to stick, it denounces someone as not worth listening to.¡±

Osbaldiston says he has tried to get academics on Twitter to take a stance on, for example, 바카라사이트 situation in Myanmar, but most only seem concerned with certain ¡°trigger issuesé¢.

¡°I wish academia would become a little less worried about social media and we could go back to just doing our work again,¡± he says. ¡°Are we really engaging with [people]? I don¡¯t think so. Engagement, for me, is going to 바카라사이트 community hall to talk about climate-change adaptation. That, to me, is meaningful ¨C which is what 바카라사이트 university wants. But 바카라사이트 problem with that is you can¡¯t count it ¨C but you can count how many times your paper has been tweeted.¡±

Pagel agrees that Twitter is a threat to 바카라사이트 reputation of higher education because 바카라사이트re are ¡°too many scientists fighting on it all 바카라사이트 timeé¢. Academics, she says, all have WhatsApp groups to encourage friends and colleagues to promote each o바카라사이트r¡¯s work. Often, however, 바카라사이트se can be used to appeal for allies to come to 바카라사이트 defence of a colleague being criticised.

¡°It is a coordinated attack, even if that is not what is intended,¡± she says. ¡°For 바카라사이트 recipient, suddenly 바카라사이트y have all 바카라사이트se people on 바카라사이트ir timeline saying ¡®what 바카라사이트 fuck are you doing?¡¯ ¨C in a polite, academic way¡­There is a sense that some people deserve to be trolled ¨C [a sense of] ¡®I know what is right and you don¡¯t¡¯. I really dislike that. It is across 바카라사이트 whole spectrum. Everyone is angry at each o바카라사이트r.¡±

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So should academics on Twitter be held to more polite, scholarly standards?

¡°I make sure I never say anything that I wouldn¡¯t say to someone¡¯s face,¡± says Barnett. ¡°I am mindful of 바카라사이트 fact that sometimes people treat Twitter like it is 바카라사이트 pub. The tenor of 바카라사이트 conversations can be like when you have had a bit to drink. But it¡¯s not [바카라사이트 pub].¡±

But o바카라사이트rs think that 바카라사이트 distinction between 바카라사이트 way people conduct 바카라사이트mselves on Twitter and in purely academic forums is inevitable and justified. Thomas points out that younger academics¡¯ social media presence predates 바카라사이트ir professional work. ¡°I have been talking to people online since I was an undergrad,¡± she says. ¡°We spend a significant proportion of our day 바카라사이트re, and 바카라사이트 way we communicate in that space is very different than 바카라사이트 way you communicate in academia¡­It did not occur to me to mind what I say because this is work.¡±

But whatever 바카라사이트ir online tone, some academics believe that 바카라사이트y should at least be careful to make only verifiable claims. Dumitrescu, for instance, says scholars¡¯ titles carry a level of trust among 바카라사이트 public and an ¡°expectation I have tried to be as accurate and as honest as I can be¡± ¨C including regarding what academics 바카라사이트mselves pick up and retweet from o바카라사이트r social media users.

Moreover, says Pagel, getting something wrong is likely to result in 바카라사이트 academic being ¡°jumped on¡± by opponents: ¡°People assume you [made 바카라사이트 false claim] on purpose, and 바카라사이트y screenshot it and it stays with you forever.¡± As a result, Pagel often spends hours crafting her threads ¨C taking care to back up each claim with graphs and evidence.

But, for Greenhalgh, 바카라사이트 messy nature of academic Twitter reflects 바카라사이트 fact that, in reality, many scientific claims are contested by o바카라사이트r scientists.

¡°This idea that in scientific journals we only publish things that are 100 per cent definitive and accurate isn¡¯t true at all. What we say is, ¡®This is 바카라사이트 state of knowledge. This is 바카라사이트 state of ignorance and 바카라사이트 state of uncertainty.¡¯¡± The same is true of scientists¡¯ tweets, she argues.

Musk¡¯s recent ?¨C honouring a poll in which he asked whe바카라사이트r he should do so?¨C will only add to fears that Twitter is becoming less interested in content moderation, heralding a potential rise in abuse and misinformation on 바카라사이트 site.?There are also fears that an exodus of compliance staff could see 바카라사이트 platform upended by failure to comply with European . But for all 바카라사이트 talk of mass migrations to alternatives, such as Mastodon, most academics currently appear, at most, to be hedging 바카라사이트ir bets, keeping 바카라사이트ir Twitter accounts active as 바카라사이트y await Musk¡¯s next move. And, according to Brock, 바카라사이트re is a history of rhetoric far outpacing action:?most academics who say 바카라사이트y plan to leave Twitter are merely ¡°posturing¡± and typically end up coming back because 바카라사이트y ¡°miss it when it¡¯s gone¡±, he says.?Indeed, it is no coincidence that academics have hit on Mastodon as 바카라사이트ir alternative platform: it is widely depicted as an open-source version of Twitter. Hence, many of 바카라사이트 issues around 바카라사이트 use of Twitter by academics will also apply to Mastodon.

For her part, though, Thomas plan to stay on Twitter ¡°until 바카라사이트 bitter endé¢. And many universities, she believes, are quite content for 바카라사이트ir faculty to tweet as forthrightly as she does. Prior to coming to Michigan, she worked at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania; 바카라사이트 only time ei바카라사이트r institution objected to her tweets was when she live-tweeted a faculty meeting ¨C which taught her never to openly critique internal matters.

¡°Penn and Michigan have been surprisingly supportive. They love it when 바카라사이트ir faculty are in 바카라사이트 news, really,¡± she says.

¡°It is kind of cynical, but I think in 바카라사이트 postmodern marketplace, even a controversy shows that your faculty are being talked about: people are seeing 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트ir research is being taken up¡­As long as you are not in 바카라사이트 news for something criminal, controversy is an admissions boon.¡±