All complaints, requests and scheduling changes are taken care of via email. Last but not least, I am subscribe to several listservs. As a result, I often approach the retrieving of email with dread. In many ways, I am more comfortable writing email than talking over the phone. However, I often wonder if it is really a timesaver after all.
Contextual factors are sure to influence the level of online policing or self-censorship.
Context defines who has on-line authority and who doesn't as well as what is appropriate to say on line or not. For Faigley's students on-line participation is required and, most likely, assessed. For the Techwhirlers, participation is voluntary and based on common interest. One point of similarity is that all the readings demonstrate the complex negotiations involved in self-censorship and policing. Many of Faigley's students felt free to say things they never would have said before.