Unable to look away from the carnage

I find myself riveted to a recent story posted (4/14/06): Insider Higher Ed: Tolerance and a Reading Selection. It is of interest not only in regard to the information contained within the post, but also for the quality and quantity of comments attached. These comments range from supportive to combative, from kind to quarrelsome, and are often signed by the author (in itself an oddity). Even more stunning, those commenting have begun arguing amongst themselves. I seriously doubt the proverbial academic battle cry of "publish or perish" meant this type of publication. Four days later people are going back to the post and continuing to add comments. In blog years, it is old news now.

What role did the e-mail play? Let's face it, e-mail is a fabulous time saving device. Shoot off a message to anyone with an email address without playing phone tag and move on with your day. Could it be more convenient? Need to contact someone about an appointment? Use email. Upset with the customer service at your favorite restaurant or retail establishment? Use email. The thing is, once we hit the send button, it's gone.

Long gone.

Each of us brings attitude and personality to what we read, write, and send in a message. E-Mail, with all it's wonders, is no substitute for person to person communication. When using it for business, there is a distinct lack of human interaction such as facial expressions, mood indicators, body language, or the subtle subtext of eye contact. It's not for the faint of heart, using just words on a form.

Choose your words carefully, they live forever in cyberspace.

Am I the only one who thinks this controversy did not erupt solely due to book suggestions for an introductory course? Regardless of who said what about the titles being bandied about among the selection committee, reactions by all parties seemed disproportionate to a few snarky e-mail messages among colleagues.

The whole situation disturbs me on a professional and personal level. Why? Call me naive, but it should not have happened. Now that it has, we can not go back. The veneer of innocence is gone. Like a rubber-necker on the highway unable to look away from the carnage, I will probably continue to follow this story. Maybe it will help me understand more fully what did happen.