Fight?!?!

@GoodwinMJ & I discuss social media, academia, & Brexit.

I argue that calling out dodgy data, bad stats & the misuse of evidence - "intellectual garbage disposal" - is an important public service..(1/n)

#BrexitandBeyond https://soundcloud.com/user-941630307/brexit-and-beyond-with-professor-matt-goodwin-and-jonathan-portes

2/n This was a constructive and polite (!) discussion. Matt & I agree both the upsides and some potential downsides of using social media to communicate and discuss research.

There were, however, some areas of disagreement..

3/n Matt thinks we should try to behave on social media as in a conference/seminar. I disagree. Twitter discussions are not (mostly) discussing work in progress - it's a place for critiquing/critically examining - and sometimes, if necessary, trashing- stuff that's out there

I cited a specific example - my tweet here about @epkaufm https://twitter.com/jdportes/status/1217192044147413002?s=20

To be clear, @epkaufm here was - through incompetence/ignorance & haste, I'll charitably assume - trying, with an entirely spurious chart, to claim that race discrimination isn't a problem in the UK labour market.

@GoodwinMJ doesn't ( I think) dispute that I was correct about the chart but (I think) objects to tone.

I *don't* think responding to that sort of misuse of data, bolstered by @epkaufm's academic credentials, with rudeness (and yes I was rude!) is uncalled for.

(7/n) I think substance matters. @GoodwinMJ described my article here on Scruton as a "shoddy hit job" - I think this is the sort of thing he means when he says that he too has got the tone wrong in the past. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/17/roger-scruton-conservatism-bigotry-anti-immigrant

(8/n) Again, I disagree. I've no problem with @goodwinmj's use of the phrase "hit job".

I objected then (and now) to "shoddy", because the article was meticulously sourced/linked - Matt didn't claim otherwise. If academics - and others - get data/facts right, nothing to fear

(9/n) Matt also thinks early career researchers are put off by seeing senior academics "shouting at each other" on twitter. I genuinely don't know if this is an issue and would welcome thoughts/views? (publicly or privately).

(10/n) Finally, specifically on Brexit, Matt cited a climate of intolerance within academia towards those (like him) who wanted to "respect the vote." It's worth listening to what he says on this...

(11/n) FWIW, my view is that there's no excuse for intolerance/abuse - still less "discrimination" in terms of jobs/grants - against those who are (or are perceived as) "pro-Brexit".

(12/n) We at @UKandEU have always been open to a wide range of voices; and those of us responsible for steering the overall programme (esp @anandMenon1 @jillongovt @ProfTimBale & me) have always tried to be objective and rigorous (& I think broadly succeeded).

(13/13)

We didn't solve everything! Neither of us would claim a monopoly of wisdom, nor are there obvious "right answers".

But I thought it was a useful and constructive discussion, and thanks to @GoodwinMJ for engaging. [ENDS..for now]