When WebCT Gets Ugly

I thought McGill students were supposed to be well-rounded, civil, socially conscious young adults preparing to embark on the world at large. In fact, one of McGill's main selling points is that it has a large international contingency - which goes hand in hand with its international reputation. Seems like a perfect place to learn about acceptance and other cultures. It didn't take long for anonymous WebCT posting to shatter this platonic version of McGill I had built up, or rather, was built up for me.

It seems as though people have the ability to lose all decorum and restraint when their face is not attached to their non existent name. On the forums, this behavior has come to be known as "anonymous bashing." Anonymous bashing can be defined as the use of fighting words while cowardly hiding behind the blanket of anonymity. Every once in a while, the anonymous flashpoint morphs into an all out war, fought by two or more sides who have no clue who it is they are fighting.

Ironic as it may seem, it really can get ugly. In one of my classes, a posting board with over 500 messages was taken down because of racial content. A reason was given in a final post by the prof: "some students felt genuinely hurt by what they saw as ethnic stereotyping.

There were certainly a few posts that I've had to remove because they could be seen as (or were) racist." Now c'mon people. Can't we all just get along? I mean seriously, how pathetic do you have to be to bash something behind an anonymous safety net. If you really have these certain opinions, you should have the balls to defend them behind your name. And at least that way people can send you nasty email messages and give you dirty looks when they see you walking through campus.

In another one of my classes, the students were planning a coup anonymously because they didn't like the teaching style of our professor. Another student summed up the absurdity of this situation, "secondly, quit posting anonymously. How on earth are you going to "take action" or whatever if you're too scared to even identify yourself on a post the prof probably doesn't even read?" Touché my friend, Touché. Aside from the recurring aspect of unsigned immaturity, the message boards can be used properly to share ideas - and in certain cases it is the only place to get help at 4am on the morning before a paper is due.) So on behalf of the McGill Community, if you have something to say, grow up and sign your name at the end of it.

- Anonymous