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July 5, 2012
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Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.
Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.
Today is the first anniversary of the Scientific American Blog Network!!!
Over almost eight years of blogging (after a couple of years commenting on other people’s blogs and campaign forums, I finally started my own blog in August 2004) this blog has changed styles and directions a number of times. I started with straight-out politics, then focused on political psychology, then jumped into heavy-duty science blogging, then moved gradually into more of a media analysis direction. Since the blog moved here, I am busy with the network, and busy promoting others, but try to find time to at least occasionally write about news in circadian biology, or some thoughts on the new media ecosystem.
Four years ago, Ed Yong started a tradition, picked up by many science bloggers, to ask readers who they are and why they keep coming back. He just did it again recently. So we thought it would be interesting to ask you the same questions (#1 and 2), as well as question #3, later added to the tradition by Drugmonkey, and a fourth question devised specifically about this blog.
I did this back in 2008, 2009 and 2010, then skipped 2011 as we were just about to launch. I assume, as my topics shifted over the years, that my readers shifted as well – old ones leaving, new ones coming in. I am now interested to know who reads me here, at SciAm.
Commenting here is really easy (and will become even easier by the end of the year). “Registration” is a misnomer, it’s just a login on a separate page from the blog post. When you click on “Register” you are taken to a page where you give us a name/nym, an email address and a password. Pseudonyms are welcome. Then you come back (there is no confirmation email you need to wait for, etc), click on “Log In” and enter the same name/nym and password and are ready to comment. Please do – here are the questions:
1) Tell me about you. Who are you? Do you have a background in science? If so, what draws you here as opposed to meatier, more academic fare? And if not, what brought you here and why have you stayed? Let loose with those comments.
2) Tell someone else about this blog and in particular, try and choose someone who’s not a scientist but who you think might be interested in the type of stuff found in this blog. Ever had family members or groups of friends who’ve been giving you strange, pitying looks when you try to wax scientific on them? Send ‘em here and let’s see what they say.
3) Where did you come from? I’m interested in whether you found us, or regularly follow us, through Twitter, Facebook and/or other beyond-RSS mechanisms that you may use to corral your information stream.
4) What is it specifically about A Blog Around The Clock that you like? Do you come for science, for media analysis, for community events, or just to say Hi because you come her through sheer inertia, being my reader for many years already? Also: Hi, Mom!
About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.
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Hi!!! Happy Birthday to us!
1. I’m Sci! I’m a scientist! And a blogger. And I like SciAm because the writers are really good and fun.
2. I’ll tell the dude sitting next to me.
3. I found you, one day, in PERSON, in a coffee shop, as I recall.
And thus was the blogsphere opened to me.
4. I come here for your many excellent analyses of the state of the blogsphere.
Link to this1). I’m a science writer/flack at a university. While I am not a scientist, I did marry one. Does that count? I’m fascinated by science and research: the findings, the process, and the effort involved in communicating it — both within the relevant field and to a non-expert audience.
2) Will do.
3) I check the SciAm blogs site almost daily, or am drawn there by posts I’ve seen via various social media platforms. I check your blog at least 2-3 times per week to see what’s up.
4) Among other things, I am particularly fond of the weekly round-up you post, laying out some of the most interesting posts you’ve seen over the previous seven days. There’s almost always a gem that I managed to miss the first time around.
Link to this1) I was a physics major as undergraduate; in law school, I was a research assistant for an energy-environment policy organization. In addition to my non-science day job, I currently serve on the IRB of a state medical school and on a hospital ethics committee. I come here not as an alternative to “meatier, more academic fare”, but as a supplement. SciAm blogs are the perfect playground for the imagination.
2) I tell others by sharing Facebook posts and links to various blogs. I’ll share more!
3) Bora tempts me to the blogs (this and others) many times daily with his tempting Facebook posts. Because I am weak, I yield to temptation.
4) I come here for all of the reasons listed, including inertia (I have a sleep disorder, and initially found your blog many years ago while looking for more information on circadian cycles in general). I like the individual posts, but appreciate especially the encapsulations. As a non-specialist, I enjoy the luxury of following whatever is interesting.
Link to thisHi!
1. I’m Rocio from Montevideo, Uruguay, living in Barcelona right now. I studied Biology at University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay, and before graduation started involving in PCST (Public Communication of Science and Technology) activities.
I teach, learn, and communicate science, also I’m at my fist steps in research on PCST (specially public perception of science and evaluation of outreach activities.)
I’m particulary interested in the historical/cultural relationship between science and art an its communicative potential; also the design and evaluation of communication formats.
2. I have already tell many people about BoraZ’s
3. I discovered you at twitter, probably via @occ, the scicomm. observatori of Barcelona (Pompeu Fabra university) where I completed the Master in Science Communication.
4. You write very well, take care and time to post links, reply comments, and more. I’m learning a lot and enjoying reading some of your posts (the ones that catch my attention, related to my personal interests.) Loved the one about the science blogs history.
Congratulations! and thanks.
Link to this