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Lots to think about and discuss in this thread, about the standards to which academics should hold ourselves on twitter and how we engage with different viewpoints.
An additional issue is the way twitter blurs roles that are each legitimate, but which we used to keep separate: notably, advocacy of our own political opinions (taking a position in an argument); & academic commentary (trying to inform/analyse/explore other people's arguments).
In my academic work, I spend a lot of time exploring views I disagree with (indeed, this seems to me the point of doing history). So I'm pleased when reviewers from other political positions find my work fairminded. In the past, they would not have known my own political stance.
But we are citizens, not just observers: it would be strange if people with expertise on a given subject felt barred from speaking out upon it. Some of us feel we got this wrong in 2016; that, in protecting our credibility as commentators, we neglected our civic responsibilities.
But doing it in the same place can be awkward. I've always believed that we should keep our politics out of the classroom: that it's an abuse of the job to preach politics to our students. But of course, many students follow me on twitter, precisely because I'm their tutor.
That means they are likely to hear my lectures through a different filter. On one level, that's perhaps a useful defence against any subconscious biases that seep through. But they might also conclude that certain opinions are more or less welcome in essays or class discussion.
Perhaps the only solution is to apply to our engagement as citizens the same values we prize academically: intellectual curiosity, caution in judgement, respect for difference & a willingness to be proven wrong. I'm not claiming to meet that standard. But please hold me to it.
(Now back to the third and most important function of academic twitter: looking for nice pictures of cats). [ENDS]
