If there's anything that brings this college together, it is our tried and true e-mail program. Students and faculty monitor blitz as a second career because it is the main form of communication on campus, and it is made widely available. It's fast, easy and convenient. But then there is the insidious side of this service that infects individuals throughout campus without their knowing it. You don't have to look far to see the effects of the blitz disease on our student body. I don't mean the common gripe about rude people who clean out their inboxes and compose epic love e-mails at public computers while 10 of their busy peers wait impatiently behind them; or the undergrad that relies on blitz to ask out his crush rather than going up to her after class to make his move the old-fashioned way.
No, the debilitating effect of blitz lies in the callous and insensitive comments some Dartmouth students make to one another over blitz with the assumption that they can get away with any interaction confined to an inbox. Case in point: I am a leader and member of several campus organizations. Weekly meetings alone do not suffice to disseminate information and keep the group running effectively. There is only so much face time one can ask an overextended Dartmouth student to volunteer to any one commitment, so I rely heavily on blitz as a productive way to keep the group running and connected when we are not meeting in person. One student health awareness group I head aims to educate the campus about the importance of a healthy mind and body. In response to a blitz we sent out to students interested in our cause, the organization's account received back a one-line blitz accusing us of having goals that make students feel bad about their behavior while promoting unhealthy behavior. The student who had written the blitz had obviously framed his misperceptions and lack of information into a handful of angry words and pressed send without thinking twice.
Therein lies the problem of blitz: We feel, we type, we send but we never think. At least we have a sent messages folder that can record our flights of emotion or drunken blitzes even if it is too late. A record of our insensitive and nonsensical blitzes is not enough, though. We have to think before we send. In his single sentence, the student who attacked my organization was trying to invalidate everything we stand for, as if his one line could stand alone, without justification or promise of opening a debate about the issue. I have worked long and hard in leading my organization because I believe in our stated goals. I wrote the student back about our goals, clarifying his errors in judgment and defining terms he had obviously misunderstood or overlooked in writing his brief critique of us. I tried to open up a discourse with him to spread the correct message and possibly discuss where and how our opinions differed. He responded with another angry blitz, to which I served him up more information and explanation, and he never wrote back.
I have evidence behind my beliefs and my statements, not hostile words and misdirected anger. But the blitz program does not come with an automatic sensitivity check. We can send out whatever we want; get away with unfair attacks on others without justification or follow-up. Blitz takes the responsibility out of our daily interactions, making us cruel and quick in our judgments. The effect is a corruption of our social bonds and our community. Without responsibility or caring for one another, we stop taking pride in what we produce. No movement, organization, individual or group on campus will have credibility if this continues. Just look at what has happened to the Generic Good Morning Message this term. Any daily subscriber to the GGMM groans each morning to read bitter barbs being thrown back and forth between grumpy coeds using the blitz forum to get out all the aggression they can't exhibit in public. Go get a punching bag; get educated about what moves you and fight for that cause, but please don't attack people through pathetic e-mails.
I call for a mass rethinking of blitz. We don't deserve the privilege of this quick and simple communication service if we are going to be so lazy as to let it break down our morals and sensitivity for one another. Think before you blitz.
