Bitter and twisted

Twitter could be a boon to academics. Instead, it has become the playground of a cynical cabal of work-shy mediocrities

Hilary Yeo

#ACADEMICTWITTER SHOULD BE a corner of social media where wiser counsels prevail. In reality, it is one of the most vacuous and depressing spaces on the internet. It is a world of preening posers, pseudo-academic humblebrags, never-ending book promotions, orchestrated pile-ons, and an unrelenting showreel of distinctly unimpressed cats. Any talk of Twitter is inevitably divisive in universities, since academics’ attitudes to it fall into three distinct camps. There are those too busy with teaching and research to have anything to do with it; they know its demerits far outweigh its benefits, and couldn’t much care what happens in that godforsaken hellscape. Then there are those who use it straightforwardly for academic communication — announcing conferences, advertising vacant posts, or querying particular points of detail. And finally, there are those who…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2023

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