E-tiquette

Of all the new problems that membership of the online community would present, the last one I expected was to have too many followers. Self esteem issues aside, my circle of friends is sparse and outside of the people I live with there aren’t many I would regularly associate with. Much to my surprise then when my Twitter following started to increase and suddenly it seemed my random musings on song lyrics, HBO TV series, films and bus passengers actually had an audience. Moreover, when students started following I was quite chuffed that they actually found me interesting outside of the marks and class work I gave them.

Unfortunately, this brave new world has hit a road bump: a superior at my school is now following me!

At first I was surprised and actually considered it not a problem. The stuff I Tweet is nothing to be ashamed of so what did I have to worry about? Then I got to thinking about the implications of these new synapses in my social network. Would he now discover my love of Britney and share it with others in the staffroom? Would my karaoke habits, already a talking point among students, become a performance review topic? Would my so far uninhibited ramblings suddenly become grounds for dismissal?

All these questions and more ran through my head and I started to panic. The merest slip of a key stroke could spell the end of my teaching career and any future job prospects. So I made a decision: I would make my first Twitter block. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly but one I needed to make for myself and my tweeting sanity.

However, this decision of itself presents a whole new set of issues. What does that now mean for my relationship with this person at school? Does it warrant an email of apology or perhaps a brief explanation? While I mean no disrespect, I feel that a line should be drawn between my private online life and my professional relationships. I don’t feel as if I should have to mute or censor my tweets for fear of offending a superior. Also, could it not be seen as a subtle form of Big Brother?

Am I paranoid? Maybe but where as a student can connect and engage with me without directly affecting my job prospects, the same cannot be said of a superior. So consider this a formal apology but also a declaration of independence.

Vive le twitters!

Clichéd E-crap (2009)

To twitter or not
to tWitter?
that Is the question.
a Totally clichéd
abuse of The
shakEspeare verse
whateveR