Science In the Open 2009 London – Blogging for Impact

August 22, 2009 1 Comment

Several of the attendees in this panel are participating via Second Life

What can blogging do for science in the media (Mark Henderson, Science Editor of the Times).

Blogging allows to communicate with a different voice and different material.

Can use blogs as background research for journalistic research – blogging as a substitute for going to the primary literature? Science bloggers can use blogging as a way to promote their work to journalists and the general public….journalists are watching science blogs…..

Dave Mearkus speaking now via Second Life

  • Blogging allows to tell a longer story than in a lecture or a paper
  • Blogging allows control over message and online personality
  • Case Study: Cognitive Daily (Husband Wife Blog)
  • Different motives: becoming rich and famous vs telling the world about science… – small success has come to both…one is writing a regular column now, the other has had a lot of institutional support from university
  • Talking about ResearchBlogging.org – it’s an aggregator and a filter of scientitic blog posts…also some form of overlay journal – editors pick which blog posts they consider the best in a week and aggregate them on a separate page.
  • Even casual bloggers can make a differenct through aggregation services…

Daniel MacArthur (Genetic Future) is now responding (works at Sanger Institute):

The challenges of academc blogging are:

  • Time spent blogging – time spent not experimenting, coding, writing papers
  • Easier to blog if blog is close to area of research expertise
  • Microblogging – second channel for providing information but it is quick…dangers: information stream becomes more superficial…
  • Criticism has consequences: controversy sells, BUT inaccurate criticism can damage careers….need to balance intreresting and open reviews with career protection
  • Uneasy interaction with the commercial world: litigation risks, consultancy and product offers…insight vs. staying objective.
  • Sustaining multiple identities… divergence of online persona from professional identity
  • Talking openly about science vs. reporting on science

Floor open for discussion now…

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One Response to Science In the Open 2009 London – Blogging for Impact

  1. Pingback: I bet you think this blog is about you, don’t you? « O’Really?

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