Blogosphere Debates - The Frontier for Scientific Discussion
Tom Stafford
Social Media for Researchers
23 September, 2014
Stafford, T., & Bell, V. (2012). Brain network: social media and the cognitive scientist. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(10), 489–490. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.08.001
digital disruption meets scholarship
What Jason Mitchell's 'On the emptiness of failed replications' gets right
by Tom Stafford http://osc.centerforopenscience.org/2014/07/10/what-jason-mitchell-gets-right/
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A ‘proper place’ for discussion
“The swift rebuttal was prompted by scientists' alarm at the speed with which the accusations have spread through the community. The provocative title — 'Voodoo correlations in social neuroscience' — and iconoclastic tone have attracted coverage on many blogs, including that of Newsweek. Those attacked say they have not had the chance to argue their case in the normal academic channels.”
“The major question here, seems to be the propriety of the BMJ and Dr Jones in going beyond the reasonable response to a press release, by asking potential opponents for a detailed statistical critique, without offering the authors of the study any right to reply alongside”
The posse
Unpredictable, en-mass criticism
The posse
Unpredictable, en-mass criticism
….Particularly around methodology
….General raising of standards
(see also Why Psychologists’ Food Fight Matters: “Important findings” haven’t been replicated, and science may have to change its ways By Michelle N. Meyer and Christopher Chabris, in Slate.)
You don’t know who is in town
Cross-disciplinarity means we have all become non-specialists
= requires ‘upskilling’, not dumbing down
The scholarships of translation and integration, not just discovery (Finders, 2013; after Boyer, 1996)
Flinders, M. (2013). The tyranny of relevance and the art of translation. Political Studies Review, 11(2), 149-167.
Know what to save when the barn catches fire
Cognitive limits to social media activity
Danger of judging your achievements by how you think they might appear to others
Crowding out of thoughtful consideration
Know what to save when the barn catches fire
Cognitive limits to social media activity
Danger of judging your achievements by how you think they might appear to others
Crowding out of thoughtful consideration
Simple strategy: follow your interest only (and assume everything is public)
They are not counted, they are weighed
They are not counted, they are weighed...because
Michael Leunig http://www.leunig.com.au/
Image of Michael Leunig’s cartoon “Sorry No Ducks” removed for copyright reasons
Connection to your peers
Far away is nearer
Twitter: “it's like having a little part of you that's always down the pub” (@dougald)
….or in the conference bar
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Questions? Comments?
@tomstafford
What should we do when things go wrong?
Don't take things personally. You job should be to to provide nuance, context and a measured tone. Most of the time, striving for this with honesty and patience will make you look good and people who throw mud look bad. Also Hanlon's Razor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
Would you recommend sustained social media engagement to ECRs
Only if they felt an interest/intrinsic motivation. For the moment blogging/etc is optional - you need a public profile of some kind, but if you have a basic webpage your time might be better spent doing research
How polished should you be
Polished enough to be understood
I agree with Tristram that you can make the kind of thought you are having clear as part of what you write
Blogging as public engagement
A useful understanding of public engagement focusses on specific publics and two-way engagement (not just dissemination/broadcast). If you do this sincerely the activities most appropriate for public engagement will become clearer
Should you have multiple blogs
It is fine to have multiple kinds of posts on a blog (personal, news, analysis,etc), but you can decide how many blogs you need by thinking about the specific publics you want to read it (interested layperson? committed specialist? specific interest but time limited?)
Optimising tweet dissemination
In short: this is known, but not by me
One strategy: play the numbers - use clickbait headlines, tweet at 9am and 2pm, etc
Another strategy: engage with the specific public you want to hear about your stuff (this is the hard way)
Blogs for learning and teaching
Writing in public is valuable for academics and students : it is hard work, so you need high intrinsic motivation and/or a good structure
Research showing the benefits of writing over reading for learning: http://www.tomstafford.staff.shef.ac.uk/?p=271
Where do you find the time?
I am not a perfectionist
Source: Nature
My blogs
personal blog: http://idiolect.org.uk
group blog: http://mindhacks.com
project: blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/biasandblame/
academic: http://tomstafford.staff.shef.ac.uk
private teaching blog, facebook, twitter, course wiki