Posted by I tweeted about the “serious academic” debacle at the time, but decided against responding any further here or elsewhere. Many great responses were published in the days that followed (here and here for example). However, the series of tweets I posted cropped up again in my notifications feed today, so I decided to embed them here before they disappear from my feed once more.
I also want to expand on some of what I said originally. I actually used the “serious academic” article in an MA research methods seminar last week as part of a discussion on why students in the MA in English programmes are required to maintain a WordPress blog throughout the programme. Once upon a time, I would have completely avoided incorporating something like this in a class aimed at demonstrating a digital tool and conceptualising how it can be used to the students’ advantages. I would have avoided it for fear of losing any students who entered the room with doubt in their minds. Firstly, here are my tweets in response to the article (linked above):
@WomenAreBoring At this point I can’t help but roll my eyes at articles like this one. I integrate Twitter into my classroom and assignments
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 2. The students who are glad of and grateful for the various ways I use Twitter by far outnumber those who are not.
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 3. Using Twitter and blogging thrusts my students and their work onto a public platform, advertises their interests & skills
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 4. Helps them to make potentially valuable connections with others in their field of interests…
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 5. and allows us to continue conversations, debates and discussions outside of the classroom.
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 6. Moreover, tweeting can arguably be a form of interactive note-taking rather than a mere distraction
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 7. studies have shown that tweeting links to publications increases the likelihood of citation, & the amount of citations
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
@WomenAreBoring 8. Exhale. 😉
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) August 5, 2016
While I know several people who refuse to link to the article in questions, I have provided my students with the URL and encouraged them to read it. Even though everything this anonymous academic says stands in complete opposition to my beliefs and practices regarding how I present myself to the world as a public scholar, to quash anyone else’s opinion itself also stands in opposition to my aim to work and disseminate in an open, fair, accessible manner.
I know at least one student in my classroom last week was in agreement with many of the arguments made by the author of the “serious academic” article. I have since been informed by that student that her/his mind was changed during the course of the class. I presented two sides of the “to blog or not to blog” argument, and whether that democratic approach is what brought that student around to a more positive view of it is not something I can confirm right now. What I can speculate on however, is that my inclusion of the anti-social media argument, encouraged a more wholesome reflective process to occur.
Today, with a class of MA in Digital Arts and Humanities students, the phrase “open source scholar” came up. I think it has a nicer ring to it that the ghost of the “professional instagrammer” that still lurks inside many a networked classroom. In fact, while many of us emphatically decried the aforementioned article as being representative of an flagrant opinion taking its last few frustrated gasps, the fact of the matter is the argument of the value of social media in academia is still ongoing. It has evolved from petty spats to more serious discussions about what constitutes rigorous, scholarly uses in research, teaching and learning, if, why and how such practices can be counted officially as research output, etc. This is a turn that I have noticed at least. Gone are the days when I had to do breathing exercises through throwaway comments, and instead I am having serious conversations with colleagues, peers and students about these issues. One of the benefits of this is that when faced with articles like this one, my reaction is less “how dare you!” and more “how can I use this?” Maybe the “professional instagrammer” is a friendly ghost (I am in the Halloween mood, so ghostly themes and metaphors are a go!)
Whiteboards from today’s DH6001. Thanks all! #uccdh pic.twitter.com/D4KlQxUBVK
— Donna M. Alexander (@americasstudies) October 18, 2016
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