Hi folks, This is a copy of the letter that I emailed to Monica Hesse at the Post. I sent this about three hours ago, and then posted to the list about to give people a heads up. Since the post never showed up, I am posting again. Sorry if this winds up going out multiple times but I am now concerned that people thought this was a safe space to vent, and I invited her to join us on the list. Frankly , I think she should see how frustrated people are, but that's just my opinion. Here is the letter: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Monica, Thank you for writing the piece on academics and social software scholarship. I thought many of your observations about turf wars were on the money (literally.) As an academic who writes about LiveJournal, Facebook and YouTube, I suppose I too could be viewed as someone jockeying for a piece of the social networking pie. I prefer to see myself as someone deeply interested in her field. When I am honest though, I have to admit 'interested' is too weak a word—on my good days, I actually believe social networks can change the way that institutions function, one person at a time. Which brings me to why I am writing today. Your writing style makes you seem approachable, so I am going to take a chance and hope you are open to the idea of joining us in a conversation that is currently taking place online regarding your article. The venue is the Association of Internet Researchers mailing list. Everyone you have quoted in your piece has already weighed in, and I know that would make me curious, if I were in your shoes. As you rightly intimate in your article, academic study of online social networking is a subcultural practice that has gone mainstream. Like all subcultures, it is best understood in the environment in which it transpires. If I were writing about rave DJ's, I wouldn't call people to ask about raving. I wouldn't even go to raves themselves. I would find out where the DJ's go, and see them interact. Although the analogy doesn't quite hold (our clothes aren't as interesting), the place where academics gather to discuss social networking isn't really the pages of the JCMC. It's the AIR-List, which began because we were all too far flung geographically to get to the same conferences. Even though you might get a bit of a ribbing now, I think you'd like the AIR List, and I believe it would be a great resource for your future reporting. The AIR conference (the physical one) is renowned for the fact that it never prints its badges with titles. I am Terri Senft from the University of East London, UK. I am not "Senior Lecturer," which means that grad students can and do talk to me on equal footing. At least during the conference, we are two people having a beer and talking about whether Twitter is less or more intrusive than Dodgeball. The AIR-List has always worked the same way. There are academics from all the disciplines you intimate are at war with one another, all talking together. There are grad students, there are activists, there are industry people, and there are reporters. I'd like to give you a concrete example of how AIR might help you with future articles. Towards the end of your piece, you intimate that because social software is so new, long-term analyses of its affects are non-existent. As someone with a book coming out that links mid-1990's webcamming communities to sites like YouTube, LiveJournal and Facebook, I feel the need to selfishly disagree. I know lots of other people on AIR-L (sociologists, computer scientists, political theorists, librarians) who can give you other examples of online social networking that predates the 'hot' sites of today. Historical work can be, and is being, done, and we'd love for you to hear about it. I didn't need your article to tell me that social software has grown ubiquitous, but I want to thank you for reminding me that the onus is on me to communicate, as much as it is on you to report news of research in the field. I thought about writing a letter to the editor about your piece. I've long considered volunteering to help with AoIR's press profile (not even sure if we have a press package.) I was finishing a book and I thought about volunteering to take some of the weight of danah boyd's shoulders (it cannot be a blast to have to answer every call from every newspaper about pedophilia scares on MySpace.) Then I realized I was missing the bit where the medium is the message. I'm sending you this note through the email address provided by the Post Online. I'd like you to talk directly with us on AIR-L. I think it would be great for us to keep a dialogue going, now and in the future, wherever your next assignment takes you. I would welcome your presence. To join the AIR List, you just need to go to http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org and fill in some email details. I think I can speak for the membership when I say that I very much hope to see you there. Regards, Theresa M. Senft Senior Lecturer, Media Studies University of East London, UK http://www.terrisenft.net -- Dr. Theresa M. Senft Senior Lecturer, Media Studies School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies University of East London Docklands Campus 4-6 University Way London E162RD www.terrisenft.net www.livejournal.com/users/tsenft