Is this thing on?

When you have been campus for six years, you find yourself talking about the way things you used to be often. Most of this, like all navel gazing about the past, is time that could be better spent, but one change is affecting campus life.

While doing research for an article, I looked at volumes of the Silhouette dating back to 2010, and the editorials always caught my eye. Two things jump out: I am surprised that the page would even print because the takes were so hot, and the number of letters to the editor.

Letters to the editor are an important part of newspapers. These are usually short but critical responses to something in the newspaper wrote, or at least an issue relevant to the community that the paper writes for.

To date, I’ve received one letter to the editor, and it was not specifically a letter. I could not print it because of a lack of space due to ads.

Social media is part of the reason this changed. Instead of responding to the article by writing a letter, people can tweet or post a link to the article. It’s a cathartic experience, I know. I share articles from the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons with my brother and we tee off on the stupidity of it for 10 minutes. I get where people are coming from.

But the difference here is that taking pot shots at an old-media sportswriter and being critical of something in the Silhouette is that my jokes would never have an effect if I actually reached out to the Sun. At the Sil, we are all still learning, and we appreciate the feedback that students have for us.

Writing us a letter can actually have an impact, whether it is giving a reader a different perspective on an issue or pointing out an area that the Sil overlooked.

The trap with social media is an echo chamber effect, where you post something to your friends who probably already share the same views as you and they smash the like button on your tweet or post.

It feels good to have your thoughts validated, but what does that action truly accomplish? Not much, compared to providing criticism that could be thought provoking for the entire student population.

I am not naïve. I have worked at the Sil for four years and hear content we produce on a weekly basis. We are not perfect, but without your feedback, improvement is impossible.

Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less due to space constraints. Please send all letters to [email protected].