ABSTRACT
Many academics and higher education professionals may experience some form of online conflict without the protection of tenure. Online trolls are people who go online primarily for the purpose of engaging in conflict. Haters may be less intentional about seeking out conflict on the Internet, but their comments can be just as biting as the trolls’. Online bullying occurs when a pattern of negative interaction happens over a period of time by the same person or the same group of people targeted at the same person or the same group of people when it has been requested that the behavior stop. For academics whose work is already embedded with political meaning, engaging online can be especially contentious territory. Scholars from politicized disciplines have offered several suggestions for engaging in online spaces. If the person being attacked, or someone in an ally group, has created a hashtag to demonstrate support, use it.
