Tale of 3 scholars

A tale of three scholars

 
Scholar #1

Scholar #1 was probably near retirement age when RantWoman was reading his work in grad school. That was, um, awhile ago. Scholar #1 recently showed up in RantWoman’s Twitter feed.

 

Scholar #1 on Twitter at all? Oh Wow!

 

Scholar #1 on Twitter saying “This could get bloody.”

 

WOW! Okay, RantWoman does not tend to bingewatch TV series on Netflix of tune into Downton Abbey, but she definitely perked up her ears.

 

Another Tweeter: why do you say that?

 

Scholar #1: Old Kremlinologist reading social media very carefully.

 

Check out Scholar #1’s profile. A few hundred Tweets. Following a small number of people a somewhat larger number of followers. Posts a mix of links and acerbic commentary. RantWoman is pretty sure she decided to follow. RantWoman also set out on her own who to follow quest  related to #Russia, #Ukraine, #putinisdead and sundry threads intertwined with those stories.

 

 

RantWoman did not spend her whole weekend  reading #putinisdead threads. No, no, no. It was legislative town meeting day and off RantWoman went to live-tweet from the 37^th district town meeting.

 

Enter Scholar #2.

Scholar #2 favorited, retweeted, and followed. RantWoman does not thank all the giant entities that seem to follow her but something about these notices made RantWoman thank and followback.

 

Scholar #2: I’m a student. Thanks for the #waleg tweets. Did bill # ____ come up?

 

RantWoman was not paying enough attention to track bill numbers.

 

It’s the one about splitting the Seattle Public Schools district.

 

Ohhhh. It did come up. The question was hostile to the idea but it was REALLY interesting to hear RantWoman’s legislators explain their rationale for backing the bill. Almost everyone RantWoman knows whom she has discussed the topic with thought splitting the district was a terrible idea. RantWoman’s legislators though pointed out that students of color face the same disparities in achievement and graduation rates as they did 40 years ago. Apparently there is a positive association between smaller district and improved achievement, so may we please study the issue at least? Yes!

 

 

Off RantWoman goes on Saturday errands. Since RantWoman has been tweeting her heart ou and tweeting seems to clobber RantWoman’s phone battery, RantWoman also spent the afternoon alternating between feeding her Twitter addiction and hunting for battery charging options.

 

 

Somewhere in there, along comes Scholar #3, FOLLOWING RANTWOMAN. RantWoman has never met Scholar #3. He is a public intellectual easily recognized for tendentious pronouncements revered by many and reviled also. RantWoman has to assume that Scholar #3 is more likely to be following RantWoman because of #putinisdead threads than because of insightful tweeting about the 37^th #waleg district. RantWoman thinks she is SUPPOSED to be flattered that Scholar #3 is following her. RantWoman has considered the possibility.

 

Should RantWoman follow back?

 

Check out profile.

 

Check out tweets. Same great tendentiousness as allother media streams. Multiple tweets per sentence. RantWoman is a giant nerd but her eyes glazed over instantly.

 

DUDE! Write an article. Post a link. Engage in dialogue.

 

 

Post script: grumbles a few days on from women complaining that Scholar #1 seems to blok a lot of women. Ladies. Women. Cut the guy some slack. He’s obviously new to Twitter.  Listen. Figure out how to make conversation that includes his voice and does not overwhelm him. And see what younger, fresh voices are posting interesting raw observations. There WILL be plenty more opportunities to howl about sexism on the internet!