Hybrid Pedagogy’s Jesse Stommel and our very own Charlotte Frost rethink academic life and writing productivity in this on-going series of hints, tips and hacks.
BE SLOW TO REACT. Remember that you’re not responsible for how someone else chooses to interpret your work, only for how you choose to react to them. It’s very easy to get all worked up when people misunderstand you and/or launch into unjustifiable criticism. Online this is sometimes the work of so-called ‘internet trolls’, people who are just hell bent on endlessly playing devil’s advocate or arguing for the sake of arguing. Sometimes you are talking at cross-purposes and though you might find common ground in a face-to-face discussion, it may utterly elude you online. In these instances it’s best not to react or at least to take a bit of time to ponder your response. If someone is trying to get your goat they’ll continue to get it no matter what, so save your energy for something more worthwhile. Similarly, the old adage about today’s news being tomorrow’s fish and chip wrap holds an even faster truth online – although there it might be tomorrow’s LOLcat. And also, quite unlike an in-person argument, if you do think of the perfect answer days later, you’ll still be able to use it.
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