To think this successful academic’s tweeting is basically bullying?

[Francescat]

An academic ex-colleague has just had a book published. Recently he tweeted a screenshot of an email he received which criticised his stance in the book, politely, but in no uncertain terms (FWIW I disagree with what the email said). He then proceeded to post comments mocking the writer of the email for being ignorant and for mis-spelling a word, and soon enough he and a load of his followers were all taking the piss out of the email and how stupid, ill-informed etc the person who wrote it was - their tone was really sneery and dismissive.

This guy is a leading academic in his field at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, yet he’s sneering at a less-educated person like a playground bully (ironically he also posts a lot about social justice issues, sticking up for the oppressed, etc). AIBU to think that mocking the spelling of someone who simply disagrees with what you’ve written - and encouraging all your highly-educated friends/followers to do the same - is a total dick move and actually makes him a massive bully? I know this isn’t exactly unusual for Twitter, but shouldn’t someone in his position (and with his privilege) be above this? He’s well-respected in our field and everyone seems to think he can do no wrong but I‘ve lost all respect him after this!

Sounds fairly typical for an academic to be honest,particularly a male one. Being rude, abusive and immature to those who disagree with them or won't let them have their way is standard practice.

If they are successful their shitty behaviour and lack of professionalism is generally tolerated. It is so much easier to be successful in academia if you are an arsehole who doesn't give a shit about anybody else.

Academia has always been like this. People criticising and mocking each other. It’s probably not the best, but if you’re going to engage someone with ‘criticism’ about their writing, I suspect you should be able to take whatever they say back about your writing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks for your replies - it’s interesting (but depressing!) to hear how common this seems to be.

I would be tempted to contact them privately to say that I really enjoyed their work but felt the recent interactions undermined their message

^ I am actually really tempted to do this, and maybe anonymously email his institution too. I don’t want to get into a public Twitter spat - not least because I’m a very junior and precariously-employed academic and I don’t want to be publicly sneered at by him and his followers - but I do think this sort of thing needs to be called out. The hypocrisy of thinking it’s OK to belittle someone's lack of education while loudly proclaiming that we should (rightly) challenge racism, classism, etc is a little hard to stomach!

@Bellesavage - I’ve been thinking exactly the same re coronavirus advice!

He’s well-respected in our field and everyone seems to think he can do no wrong but I‘ve lost all respect him after this!

If he is an ex-colleague, and top of his field (meaning, not new to academia) I’m really surprised you weren’t aware of his behaviour prior to this.

The behaviour that people in certain middle-class professions are allowed to get away with is shocking.
Bullying is not a middle class preserve.

Nor is it restricted to those with an education.

This person has exposed himself as a very small man.

My dh is published and has a platform...sometimes it attracts an aggressive and unpleasant dismissing of his practices by other people in the industry. Dh takes it in the chin, engages where appropriate and moves along. It is to be expected and how you deal with it is what’s important.
They’ll be a lot of people like you op who have read it and think he’s a twat.

@Hopoindown31

Sounds fairly typical for an academic to be honest,particularly a male one. Being rude, abusive and immature to those who disagree with them or won't let them have their way is standard practice.

If they are successful their shitty behaviour and lack of professionalism is generally tolerated. It is so much easier to be successful in academia if you are an arsehole who doesn't give a shit about anybody else.

Soooooooo true. One of the biggest reasons I left. Incidentally, I now work in the private sector and my colleagues are, without exception, polite and supportive, they share credit and help other people. They even raise money for charity without it being a profile-raising exercise

If he is an ex-colleague, and top of his field (meaning, not new to academia) I’m really surprised you weren’t aware of his behaviour prior to this.

We were in the same dept but our paths rarely crossed - I wasn’t there long and literally only knew him to say hello to. I’d heard occasional rumours about his aggressive behaviour but had never seen evidence of it before this. I’m just surprised he’s not above publicly shaming someone for their spelling, given his position and the values he purports to espouse.

If his focus is solely on the misspelling(s) it suggests the content of the tweet got under his skin and may be valid. If it were as simple as tweeting, 'Read Ch 7 to understand your mistake,' or 'Footnoted to address this will be in the 3nd edition,' surely he'd do that and not get emotional and personal about it?

@LiveFatsDieYoGnu funnily enough that was my experience in the private sector too!

Out of curiosity, in which fields are the academics that many of you refer to? I was wondering if certain fields are worse than others for arrogance. And if it’s not too exposing, which universities?

We were in the same dept but our paths rarely crossed - I wasn’t there long and literally only knew him to say hello to

Not someone you’d be bothered about losing respect for, in that case.

@MintyMabel

He’s well-respected in our field and everyone seems to think he can do no wrong but I‘ve lost all respect him after this!

If he is an ex-colleague, and top of his field (meaning, not new to academia) I’m really surprised you weren’t aware of his behaviour prior to this.

The behaviour that people in certain middle-class professions are allowed to get away with is shocking.
Bullying is not a middle class preserve.

Nor is it restricted to those with an education.

👏🏻👏🏻

I’m fairly sure I know who this is and I agree - he’s an absolute dickhead.

You’re not being unreasonable, but academics are some of the biggest dicks out there. A few are humble but many more have massive egos when they get to upper echelons of academia.

@Tunnocks34 Ooh, I wonder if it’s him! I hope so, if only because that means there isn’t more than one person matching this description currently (although from the look of this thread they’re not in short supply!)