Communicating in Academic Online Communities

I am a moderator for our Honors College online community known as HCOL (Honors College OnLine). Every year with the influx of freshman there is a visible learning curve on how to participate in this type of community. Some of these students have only ever talked with friends online in social places like MySpace and Facebook. Others are comfortable in the aggressive and abusive worlds like gamer forums. When these two conversational styles collide, everyone gets defensive, insults arise, feelings get hurt, and discussion dies. Sadly, some people choose to leave the community. This is a different type of interaction so it should have different rules. here are some from the mistakes I've made and my observations of the most common issues.

No Personal Attacks. It does not matter if they are off handed or direct; no one in your community deserves to be verbally stoned.

Don’t Post Upset. I know from experience that it is hard advise to take, especially when you have been directly contradicted or insulted, but I also know from mistakes that it will be worth it. This is not a battle, you do not have to defend your honor or stand your ground. When you are that emotional, your writing suffers so you are more likely to stick your foot in your mouth, say something that is completely misinterpreted, insult others, and fall into a tangent that is completely off topic. Take some time to cool off and the community will carry the discussion and the clarifications you originally wanted to may be done for you without any of the consequences.

Create Discussion. Fortunately, conversation does not exhaust physical resources. This means that you do not have to deconstruct an argument to construct your own. State your ideas without picking apart other peoples. If you message has short snippet quotes of the previous to yours and your rebuttal to their statements, then you are not asserting your beliefs, you are tearing apart others’. You do not have to point out how your opinion is in contrast. It is obvious.

Play the Believing Game. Set aside your own opinions to try on other people’s points of view. If you genuinely try to understand and value the other arguments, carrying on conversation in a productive manner should come easily.

Agree to Disagree. This is a community for sharing ideas not converting believers. One of the skills you should strive to learn is how to appreciate opinions that are different than your own.

Do Not Discuss Logical Fallacies. People are posting to share their ideas and opinions; calling them illogical is inappropriate. There is an argument there even if it is not posted in your ideal way. Discussions on how to form a logically sound argument or definitions of what is not a logically sound argument are off topic. It is disrespectful to break the semantics of a post down and ignore its meaning. If you would like to educate your peers on logic you can start a new thread, but I’ll warn you: Don’t use specific examples from other users of logical fallacies.

Be Respectful. No matter how good or thorough your post is, what you say will not be heard if it is not presented in a respectful way.

Know Your Audience. You may be part of a conversation where only 3 or 4 people are posting and it can seem like they are the people you are talking to, but remember there is always more than that. There are other students who are lurking in the thread reading everything, but not posting anything. There are faculty and staff poking about. They may not read everything, and they may not post very often, but they are there. There are on occasion visiting guests. Just because there aren’t any at the moment doesn’t mean future visitors will not look at old threads. Some of the guests that our community has already seen include experts for virtual hightables, honors administrators from different programs, and a fellowship committee. Some of these people will be forced to judge you based on your virtual presence because they will never meet you face to face. Honestly, this should be a rule for life, not just communicating online.

These aren't the stead fast laws of the internet, but it is not just limited to honors students and their discussions either. It is just my advice, but I do hope to refine and add to these recommendations as I observe and learn more.