#TwitterLaw IRL @ #AALS2020

Academic Twitter is not real life

I have been quite critical of how academics tweet. Reactions to my post on social media were savage. Indeed, academics routinely assail my work on Twitter. Readers of this blog may assume that this sort of hostility bleeds into real life (IRL, if you will). Thankfully, it doesn't.

Last weekend I attended the annual conference for the Association for American Law Schools. Law professors from every law school attend. I was happy to catch up with many friends. I also visited with many professors who have been extremely critical of my work on social media, and in the blogosphere. And those interactions were always cordial and friendly. None of us brought up our Twitter tiffs.

As a general matter, academics are well equipped to compartmentalize disagreements, and find common ground during common times.

Do not take social media snips as an indication of how academics interact in the real world.