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Supercharge Your Science Blogito Ergo Sum Corey J. A. Bradshaw 1,2 1 THE ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE, University of Adelaide, Australia 2 South Australian Research & Development Institute
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Supercharge Your Science

Jan 15, 2015

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What is a blog, and why as a scientist should I bother? The question should be, how can I survive without it.
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Page 1: Supercharge Your Science

Supercharge Your ScienceBlogito Ergo

SumCorey J. A. Bradshaw1,2

1THE ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE, University of Adelaide, Australia2South Australian Research & Development Institute

Page 2: Supercharge Your Science

“…there is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

Oscar WildeThe Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

Page 3: Supercharge Your Science

1. Why should I blog?

2. How long does it take?

3. What should I blog about?

4. Who will read my blog?

5. Advice & tips for science bloggers

6. What not to do7. Other social

media?

Page 4: Supercharge Your Science

What’s a blog?Blog (web log): type of website or part of website usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

Entries commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other.

This interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.

Wikipedia

Page 5: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

vengeance for bad journalism

• too often misquoted, misrepresented & just plain misunderstood, so can go on offensive

• not as much need for middle man ‘reporter’ (cf. ‘journalist’)

Page 6: Supercharge Your Science
Page 7: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

reach larger audience

• few people (and mostly specialists) read your hard work (peer-reviewed articles)

• hit much more varied audience

• ‘moral’ obligation with public funding

• more people = more citations

• measureable impact

Page 8: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

collaboration• develop reputation

among peers (grants!), policy people

• higher likelihood of identifying colleagues of like mind

• NGO/industry partners

Page 9: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

self-promotion• most institutional web

options limited; dry, boring, incomplete, difficult to update

• CV, publications, background, media

• partial basis for promotion/awards

Page 10: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

self-promotion• most institutional web

options limited; dry, boring, incomplete, difficult to update

• CV, publications, background, media

• partial basis for promotion/awards

Page 11: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

independence• shed institutional

shackles (within reason)• rants1 recommended• can express personal

opinion more freely

1evidence-based

Page 12: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

hones thinking• forces keeping up to

date• develops writing skills

(simplicity desperately needed)

• subject material basis for new ideas/papers

Page 13: Supercharge Your Science

Why blog?

invitations

• gets you invited to (and financed to attend) special events

Page 14: Supercharge Your Science

How much time?

• personal choice

• 2-4 hours/week if 1-2 posts/week

• blog outside normal office hours?

• keep to 1 theme

Page 15: Supercharge Your Science

What about?• passionate about topic

• controversial

• 1000s blogs; few professionalfew by scientists themselves

• unsupported rants = badevidence-based diatribes = good

Page 16: Supercharge Your Science

Who reads?• internet-literate

professionals (non-scientists)

• high school; undergraduate; postgraduate

• journalists

• policy makers

• not too many established scientists (changing?)

Page 17: Supercharge Your Science

Advice & tips - format• 800 – 1500 words• keep it current/relevant• frequent• good (clever/funny)

headline• tell a story• critique• good image(s) essential

(open licence)• link love

Page 18: Supercharge Your Science

Advice & tips - topics

• “peer-review of peer-reviewed papers”

• Nature News & Views• Faculty of 1000• Front Ecol Environ

Dispatches• Editor’s Choice (many

journals)• review your own

papers!

Page 19: Supercharge Your Science

• “peer-review of peer-reviewed papers”

• Nature News & Views• Faculty of 1000• Front Ecol Environ

Dispatches• Editor’s Choice (many

journals)• review your own

papers!

Advice & tips - style

Page 20: Supercharge Your Science

Advice & tips - style• mix up format (not

always the same style or content type)

• video good, but use sparingly

• webinars (mostly personal)

• be a scientist, but more like a journalist& member of human race

• create categories/lists of content

Page 21: Supercharge Your Science

Advice & tips• mix up format (not

always the same style or content type)

• video good, but use sparingly

• webinars (mostly personal)

• be a scientist, but more like a journalist& member of human race

• create categories/lists of content

Page 22: Supercharge Your Science

Advice & tips – getting traffic• RSS (really simple

syndication)• e-mail subscriptions• key words (tags)• promote at speaking

engagements• link to professional

website & vice versa• ‘All roads lead to Rome’–

social media links back to blog

• make it easy to ‘like’, ‘tweet’, ‘stumble’, ‘digg’…

Page 23: Supercharge Your Science

Do not…• … post mundane,

parochial subjects• … just regurgitate –

original ideas/thoughts• … post long-winded,

unsupported rants• … insult• … base on emotions• … use too much

rhetoric• … use motherhood

statements (i.e., quantify)

Page 24: Supercharge Your Science

Social media• Twitter, Facebook, Flickr,

Youtube, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, bookmarking, blog rankings, blog search engines…

• All roads lead to Rome• grabs attention of

different mobs• don’t mix business with

pleasure• widgets• Audioboo, Slideshare…

Page 25: Supercharge Your Science

Social media• Twitter, Facebook, Flickr,

Youtube, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, bookmarking, blog rankings, blog search engines…

• All roads lead to Rome• grabs attention of

different mobs• don’t mix business with

pleasure• widgets• Audioboo, Slideshare…

Page 26: Supercharge Your Science

Blog hosts• Wordpress.com;

Wordpress.org• Blogspot• Typepad• Blogger• Edublogs• Yahoo 360• Livejournal• custom

Page 27: Supercharge Your Science

[email protected]

www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/corey.bradshaw

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