This is my first contribution to the listserve as well, and I will try not
to be simplistic, dualistic, etc. Just a reflection on electronic
communication...
I was part of an on-line course a few years ago, which experienced a
communication implosion. Someone had posted a message to the chatroom that
others reacted to in a way unintended by the original author; things got
out of hand, and eventually the teacher had to ask the class to stop
arguing and move on. It strikes me that the nature of the medium itself
sometimes leads to this type of miscommunication. Clearly the author of the
original submission to CASLL didn't intend to cause discomfort or distress,
yet discomfort and distress was caused. I have to admit that when I read
the original e-mail, I caught my breath for a moment. Not because I think
the US should bomb Afghanistan into a parking lot, not because I don't have
some glimmer of the tortured history that led to the act, but because the
e-mail struck me with its assumption that everyone on the listserve would
share its author's politics. And because a submission to a listserve often
brings along a sense of definitiveness that other types of communication
don't necessarily have. This probably sounds ridiculous, with the give and
take of listserves, but I think it is often true The immediacy of the
communication infers an agreeing audience.
In reality, that audience is invisible to the writer, who has no idea who
may be insulted or disturbed by the communication. I was struck by an
e-mail in this series that referred to "Dubya." I did not vote for George
W. Bush, but he is the leader of a country. Out of respect for the citizens
of that country, I think it inappropriate to beam out a communication
which includes a derogatory reference ( "Dubya" is clearly not a term of
respect or endearment). No one on the listserve would dream of making a
racial slur, or a remark concerning one's religion or ethnic origin, but
the "Dubya" reference seems okay, until what one considers is implied by
the use of that term, not the least of which is the implication that only a
dolt would vote for such a man. And the assumption that no such dolts are
on the listserve.
I don't really care what anyone's politics are. I do think, though, it
behooves us as professionals in the field of communication to think
carefully about audience when posting to the listserve. I don't think this
is a Canadian/American thing (although I assumed, without looking at the
address, that the author was Canadian because of the newspaper mentioned).
I must confess a bit of tiredness with the knee-jerk anti-Americanism I
sometimes experience in Canada (after 24 years here, I'm the "good
American," at a time when we'd die rather than talk about a "good"
representative of a racial group). That may colour my sensitivity to this
exchange. I really think, though, the communication difficulty here arose
from the nature of the medium itself, with its invisible audience.
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