Online Harassment in High Ed.

You're a researcher at Bras d'Or University. After months of revisions and more than a year of research, your paper was just published in //PLOS ONE//. The paper examines populations impacted and marginalized by climate change. Naturally, you're pretty excited about it. You email it to a few colleagues and consider sharing it on a list-serv popular in your discipline. What do you do? [[You send it out.]] As mildly annoying as list-servs can be, you typically appreciate when others' share new work with you. [[You decide against it.]] We could all do with less email!

You decide not to share it through the list-serv, but you consider tweeting it. What do you do? [[You tweet it.]] You have a lot of colleagues on Twitter who might be interested and the journal is open access, so anyone with a link and read it. [[You don't.]] Just not feeling it right now. <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You close Twitter and head to teach a class. When you return you see that you have a few retweets and comments. Nothing overly exciting. [[You head home for the weekend.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

The post is from someone who clearly has a problem with climate change research. That post, and several other comments, are calling your paper garbage. Some commentators claim you [[cherry-picked your data.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Some of the comments are from people sticking up for you. They note the high quality of the journal, your expertise on the topic area, and point out the the data are available on an institutional repository. You see that some of the people who stuck up for you have received aggressive comments, too. You're grateful for their support, but feel bad they got caught up in whatever this is. You keep reading the [[comments.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

There are comments, and comments to the comments, that you want to report. You put on another pot of coffee and get ready to dig in. It's fairly straight forward, but very time consuming. It also requires that you reread the comments that upset you in the first place. You open your security settings and change a few things. You change your account to private. Now only people you follow can send you private messages. This will help for the time being - but you can't help feeling like you're cutting off potential future collaborations and engagement. Two hours have already passed since you first sat down at your computer. [[It takes another 30 minutes to report the most disturbing comments.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

There are comments, and comments to the comments, that you want to report. You've never reported a comment before so you begin by searching for details online. It's fairly straight forward, but very time consuming. It also requires that you reread the comments. You open your security settings and stare at the options. You end up changing your account to private. Now only people you follow can send you private messages. This will help for the time being - but you can't help feeling like you're cutting off potential future collaborations and engagement. You put on another pot of coffee and get ready to dig in. Two hours have already passed since you first sat down at your computer. It takes another [[hour to report the most disturbing comments and change your account settings.->It takes another 30 minutes to report the most disturbing comments.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

The weekend passes and you spent much of your time rationalizing your feelings. You know better than to let some strangers on Twitter shake your confidence and get in your head. Even more, you're frustrated that you let those same strangers derail your weekend. You don't know whether it's best to go in the office today or to work from home. What do you do? [[Work from home.]] [[Head to the office.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You decide to work from home. You figure that you could use the extra time grading instead of commuting. Your head still isn't in it and you know you need to do something. You pick up the phone and give your colleague and friend a call. They are on campus and mentioned they stopped by earlier to check on you. They also tell you that they heard the department received emails calling for you to get fired. You check your email and see that the assistant dean emailed you to inform you of the same thing. In that email you're assured that the emails are meaningless and the department is paying them no mind. By the end of the conversation you feel a bit better. Talking about it helped, but more importantly your feelings were validated -- anger is a spot on response. To your surprise, you're even feeling a bit galvanized by it all. [[Continue.<-Continue.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

When you get to your office you see there's an email from the assistant dean. They ask you to pop by their office when you get the chance. You head over right away to find out that over the weekend the department received several emails calling for you to be fired. The dean assures you that nothing will come of this, but they just wanted you to know what was going on. You head back to your office. So much for today's to do list -- the last thing you want to do is grade those student papers. A colleague and friend stops by later in the day. They saw the barrage of comments on Twitter, heard about the emails to the department, and wanted to check in with you. You chat for a while about the whole ordeal. By the end of the conversation you feel a bit better. Talking about it helped, but more importantly your feelings were validated -- anger is a spot on response. To your surprise, you're even feeling a bit galvanized by it all. You realize that you won't be as eager to post links to your work on Twitter next time, but on the other hand, you also refuse to let a few bad actors prevent you from sharing your work. [[Continue.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Your paper sits on its digital bookshelf for now. Some of your colleagues will see it in their email, which it great for now. You head home for weekend, excited to take a well-deserved break from work. You get to the office on Monday morning and notice your email inbox is overflowing. Many of the emails are aggressive and harassing. They question your intelligence, vow to sabotage your career, and send sexually aggressive threats. You have to read through half a dozen or so before you figure out that this is a reaction to your [[newly published paper!->newly published paper!]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You see some comments that question your credentials. They doubt whether your PhD is "worth the paper it's printed on." Others highlight some of your past tweets and retweets -- claiming that you would gladly smudge the findings to make them fit with your "leftist agenda." You keep reading [[the comments.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Someone found your faculty profile and [[posted a link to it in the comments]]. <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You notice you have more mentions than usual. You scroll through your notifications. Many of them are comments from colleagues and friends -- they're congratulatory and about what you expect. You keep reading and see that someone, whose handle and name you've never seen or heard of, retweeted your post. [[You read the post.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You notice you have a lot of notifications from Twitter. You delete them without thinking -- //junk!// You respond to a few emails and are about to close your browser when a new Twitter notification pops in your inbox. You decide to open Twitter and see what all the notifications are about. You scroll through your notifications. Many of them are comments from colleagues and friends -- they're congratulatory and about what you expect. You keep reading and see that someone, whose handle and name you've never seen or heard of, retweeted your post. [[You read the post.->You read the post.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You get a few papers graded and make another pot of coffee. As your pouring your coffee you start thinking about whether anyone's read your paper yet, and if so, what they might think. Curious to see if anyone commented, you decide to [[take a look at Twitter.->Check Twitter.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You decide to go for a walk to try and clear your head. As you walk around you find yourself getting upset; you're angry, and rightfully so. You play those aggressive tweets over in your head. It's one thing to take issue with your research, but to attack your appearance and threaten you? Unbelievable. You keep going back to a the same thought -- [[it just might have been easier to keep your research to yourself->read this morning.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

After scanning countless emails you find one that links to a website that panders to climate change deniers. The original post on this site has a link to your article, your faculty profile, and a note encouraging readers to email you. It's clear they believe you, as one comment suggested, "represent everything that's wrong with the university." You're shocked and overwhelmed. It's not even 10am. You consider your options. You decide to: [[Contact IT support.]] [[Find a colleague and friend to chat with.]] [[Go chat with your Assistant Dean.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You knock on the door and your Dean invites you in. They already know why you're there but you still try to explain what you believe happened. They ask you how they can support you -- you appreciate the gesture but have no idea what kind of support you need. Unfortunately, your Dean isn't certain either. They assure you that, while the emails are annoying, they do not reflect you as a researcher and that they have no interest giving the emails any clout. You take some comfort in knowing that your Dean has your back. You [[head back to your office.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

This is bittersweet. Waking up this morning you would have jumped at the chance to do an interview. Media appearances provide great exposure for your research and for your department, but now you're not so sure. Do you accept the interview? [[You do.->accept interview.]] [[You do not.->not accept interview]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

With much hesitation, you accept the interview. You know what this could mean for you. But you decide to take a stand and refuse to let anyone intimidate you. The interview is set up for the end of the week. Hopefully, things will have [[blown over by then.->draw that boundary.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

While you loathe to decline, you keep replaying the emails you read this morning over in your head. You don't want to take the chance and draw any more attention to yourself or this research. You email the journalist and politely decline. You believe this is the right decision, but you feel disappointed in yourself. You don't want to let these random haters dictate what you do, but it's not even noon and they've already exhausted you. You don't want to see what else they are capable of, and you know you have a right to [[draw that boundary.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

(goto-url: "https://harassment.thedlrgroup.com/")

You come up with a clever, snide remark and decide to retweet one of the comments you received in order to draw attention to how ridiculous this harassment is. You immediately get some likes, retweets, and positive feedback. You feel assured that you made the right move and are glad that you didn't stay silent. Although you're by no means over this ordeal, you decide that you've had enough and [[walk away from your computer for the day.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You start grading your students' papers. Later that afternoon you receive a text from a colleague with whom you'd published a book last year. She asks you if you've seen the most recent reviews of the book on Amazon. A sinking feeling takes over and you rush to your computer. You pull up the page with your book and see that the overall rating for your book has dropped by two stars and there are a few new reviews that -- again -- claim you've cherry-picked data, question the efficacy of your research, and point out your //liberal bias//. These reviews are carefully masked as intelligent and well thought-out. You're feeling uneasy as you suspect a lot of time was spent constructing these. For example, one of the reviews reads: "This book spews the same garbage as every other book on this topic. It lacks creativity, lacks explicit evidence, and relies on fear mongering to generate interest. The only reason this ever got published is because this topic is popular among morons." You explain to your colleague what happened over the last few days. You tell her you will see if there is a way of reporting reviews on Amazon, but aside from that there isn't much more you can do. You feel responsible, even though you aren't, and cannot believe that others have been impacted by this. Reluctantly, you [[open up your email and Twitter.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You open up your email and see a dozen emails from people you've never heard of. They are wishing you harm, encouraging you to kill yourself, and calling you filthy, disturbing names. Unlike the Twitter comments these emails don't really reference your article, but you assume that it's connected because some of the emails say things like "people like you think you're so special," to which you assume they are referring to academics... or liberals... You check Twitter and, just as the day before, you have [[dozens of notifications.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You think back to the countless rebuttals you've seen on Twitter and Facebook in the past. Should you try to reason with these people? You've seen compassion and logic work for others in the past. Or is it best to be clever and a bit snarky? People are always //shutting down// trolls with brilliant comebacks. [[It's best to try and reason with them.]] [[It's best to respond with something clever.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Since you aren't responding, you decide to [[step away from the computer.->It just might have been easier to keep it to yourself.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You you keeping looking at the comments, you know you shouldn't. //Don't read the comments// is not advice you're interested in right now. You notice a tweet with a link to the website, //Rate My Prof//. You follow the link and, to no surprise, it's a profile for you. Last you checked your Rate My Prof profile wasn't even populated. Not it has a dozen reviews, all negative and all posted in the last few hours. One comment states: "I had this prof for a class, they hate opposing views and don't like to be asked questions." You have a strong sense that this is not someone who actually took your class. At this point you are feeling incredibly shaken. Things seem to be getting out of control. You scoop up your pet and try to calm yourself down by rationalizing the whole situation. [[It's very unlikely anyone is going to find out where you live.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Your attempts at calming yourself down aren't working. You can't help but think about those threats against you. Suddenly, your hear your phone ping - you got a text message. You look and see that you have text messages from Twitter with a verification code. Someone is trying to sign in to your accounts. Fortunately, you have two-step verification set up. You're on the brink of tears and unsure whether to: [[Call the non-emergency line for your local police.]] [[Call a close friend.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You don't know if this is something that the police can help you with. But you //are// receiving physical threats. Without high hopes, you pick up the phone and call. You speak with a kind but fairly unsympathetic officer. They say you can file a report, but unless you want to hire an investigator to really look in to this, there isn't much more you or they can do. They assure you that these things //happen all the time,// that the threats aren't credible, and recommend that you stay off Twitter for a few days. As upset as you are, you understand there isn't much they can do. [[You end up calling your friend, anyway.->Call a close friend.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Before you call your friend you think about your colleague who published that book with you last year and the people on Twitter who stood up for you and subsequently received their own harassment. You feel a lot of responsibility for those people and don't want to see anyone else dragged in to this. You decide you're going to call your friend anyway, but you'll be sure to explain how this could affect them. You call them and explain what's going on.(if: (history:) contains "Call the non-emergency line for your local police.") [You tell them you called the police first, but there was nothing they could do.] You thank them for listening and explain that you just [[weren't sure where else to turn.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You gather up a few things, including those student papers you've yet to finish grading, and head over to your friends place. You know it's unlikely something will happen, but you still feel fearful when you're leaving the house. When you arrive you begin to go in to more detail about everything that's happen. When you tell her that you received a verification code for Twitter she advises you to go and change your password immediately. You change your password and debate whether or not to change your account back to private. Which do you choose? [[You leave it public.]] You've been here before and a private account just isn't what you want. [[You make it private.]] You don't really want to do this, but you'll do anything if you think this harassment will stop. <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Your friend tries to console you, telling you that this will all blow over eventually, but right now you need to practice some self-care and stay safe. She suggsts you and your pet stay at [[their house for the night.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You open up your email and see a dozen emails from people you've never heard of. They are wishing you harm, encouraging you to kill yourself, and calling you filthy, disturbing names. Unlike the Twitter comments these emails don't really reference your article, but you assume that it's connected because some of the emails say things like "people like you think you're so special," to which you assume they are referring to academics... or liberals... Reluctantly, you check Twitter and, just as the day before, you have [[dozens of notifications.->many notifications]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You hear your phone getting text messages. It's a colleague with whom you'd published a book last year. She asks you if you've seen the most recent reviews of the book on Amazon. A sinking feeling takes over and you rush to your computer. You pull up the page with your book and see that the overall rating for your book has dropped by two stars and there are a few new reviews that -- again -- claim you've cherry-picked data, question the efficacy of your research, and point out your //liberal bias//. These reviews are carefully masked as intelligent and well thought-out. You're feeling uneasy as you suspect a lot of time was spent constructing these. You explain to your colleague what happened over the last few days. You tell her you will see if there is a way of reporting reviews on Amazon, but aside from that there isn't much more you can do. You feel responsible, even though you aren't, and cannot believe that [[others have been impacted by this.->Disturbed,]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

The weekend passes and you spent much of your time rationalizing your feelings. You know better than to let some strangers on Twitter shake your confidence and get in your head. But on the other hand, you've also been verbally harassed quite viciously for the last 48 hours. You're not certain whether you want to try and go into the office or spend the day at your friends, before returning home. What do you do? [[Work from your friends.]] [[Head to the office.->go to office]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You knock on the door and your Dean invites you in. It's clear they have an idea of why you are there, but you still sit down and explain what happened over the weekend. [[Your Dean has seen something like this happen before.]] [[This kind of online harassment is entirely new to your Dean.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You get back to your office. Though still in shock, you feel a bit of relief knowing that your Dean has your back. This has already impacted you on a personal level, you want to try and control any professional fallout. You hear a knock on your office door. A colleague and friend stops by to check in with you. They saw the barrage of comments on Twitter, heard about the emails to the department, and wanted to lend their support. She tells you a bit about how this has happened to other academics, something you suspected but didn't realize the scale of. By the end of the conversation you feel a bit better. Talking about it helped, but more importantly your feelings were validated and she was able to assuage the doubt you started having about your work. [[Continue.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

A lot of the notifications are from people celebrating your attempt at rebuttal. Sometimes taking up space, even when it's hard, is the right thing to do, and people seem to be applauding you for your efforts. That being said, many of the comments are more of the same as yesterday, but some of them take on a darker tone. (if: (history:) contains "It's best to respond with something clever.") [It seems your clever reply provoked a new onslaught of hate.] (if: (history:) contains "It's best to try and reason with them.") [It seems your attempt at reason provoked a new onslaught of hate.] Today's messages change from personal attacks about your intelligence and physical appearance to threats to your personal safety. A few people describe violent and sexualized acts and wish you other kinds of harm in great detail, using threats of death and rape to cow you into silence. You even get messages that claim people can find out where you live. One of the messages reads: "u academics r srly dumb af. ur personal info is everywhere online and u have the guts to pick a fight? hahaha u better watch your back." And another suggests: "I'm in the mood to get rid of mouthy cunts today." [[Disturbed,]] you walk away from your desk. <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

A lot of the notifications are from people celebrating your attempt at rebuttal. Sometimes taking up space, even when it's hard, is the right thing to do, and people seem to be applauding you for your efforts. That being said, many of the comments are more of the same as yesterday, but some of them take on a darker tone. (if: (history:) contains "It's best to respond with something clever.") [It seems your clever reply provoked a new onslaught of hate.] (if: (history:) contains "It's best to try and reason with them.") [It seems your attempt at reason provoked a new onslaught of hate.] Today's messages change from personal attacks about your intelligence and physical appearance to threats to your personal safety. A few people describe violent and sexualized acts and wish you other kinds of harm in great detail, using threats of death and rape to cow you into silence. You get one message that claims the person can find out where you live and that they want to hurt you and your pets. [[Disturbed,->Call from friend]] you walk away from your desk. <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

They ask you how they can support you -- you appreciate the gesture but have no idea what kind of support you need. Unfortunately, your Dean isn't certain either. They assure you that, while the emails are annoying, they do not reflect you as a researcher and that they have no interest giving the emails any clout. You take some comfort in knowing that your Dean has your back. You head [[back to your office.->back to office]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

The Dean has gotten countless emails and voicemails, some of which appear to be coming from parents of prospective students. They all accuse you of indoctrinating students, fear-mongering, and call for your resignation. When the Dean scrolls through their email it becomes clear that your harassers are working hard to make this [[your employer's problem.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Despite never having seen this type of harassment before, your Dean is confident that this type of harassing behavior comes with the territory of sharing your work online. They argue that these comments are 'just online,' they aren't credible threats, and you shouldn't take them personally (even though they are //very// personal attacks). You can sense an element of victim-blaming in your Dean's tone. For a minute you feel like you may indeed have overreacted. You: Internalize the sentiment and offer an apology. [[Really, you just want to get out of their office as soon as possible.]] Or You bring up the fact that you cannot help but feel like they are blaming you for other people's actions. You explain that [[you are not at fault and believe you have done nothing wrong.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Your Dean half-heartedly accepts your apology and continues on to say that you //really// shouldn't have shared it on social media, and you //definitely// shouldn't have responded or acknowledged the comments and messages. [[You're devastated.->You're devastated.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You explain the unfair nature of victim-blaming and politely defend your position. You point out that it made sense to share this paper online and that sharing research on social media has become an important facet of communicating scholarly work. Furthermore, responding to harassers online is a common tactic and you are [[not sorry you chose to stand up for yourself.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

Your Dean is not happy with your response. They take a stern tone: in their opinion you have acted unprofessionally and are not properly representing the department. [[You're devastated.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

You head back to your office. You're feeling panicky as you realize you're getting no support from your department, even though you are being sexually harassed and violently threatened. Your mind begins racing and you start to think of the implications your interaction with the Dean will have. Could this affect your tenure promotion? Will committee meetings you sit on together be tense? Awkward? Will other colleagues agree with your dean? Suddenly your future at Bras d'Or University feels like it's in jeopardy. You decide that campus isn't a helpful space for you today. You pack your things and head home. You know going home is a good call, but you feel like the decision to go home was made for you. Meeting with the Dean left you feeling uncomfortable and unwelcomed. [[You head back to your friends house.]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>

When you get back to your friends place you cuddle your pet and make some tea. You just want to distract yourself for a little while. You successfully think about other things while watching television. You decide to keep this going and commit to staying away from social media, email, and your computer for the remainder of the day, possibly for a few days. After a half dozen episodes of //The Office// a thought intrusively pops in your head: You have an online course mid week that needs preparing for. Whether you like it or not, you absolutely have to teach on Wednesday, your Dean is already unimpressed. Your previously distracted mind fills with anxiety and an uneasy feeling returns to your stomach. It's not a lot of prep work, you've taught this course before, but you so badly want to disengage from all online spaces. That night you stay at your friends again, the next morning you wake up, head home, and prepare for class. You do it as fast as possible, and recommit to an online hiatus until class the following day. [[Continue.->Continue1]] <div style="text-align: right;">[[Restart->Introduction]]</div>