Hybridism, edutainment, and doubt: Science blogging finding its feet

Abstract

Blogs have become everyday acquaintances in digital life. Although personal, political, and fashion blogs may be the best known, academics also engage in blogging about research. With fast-expanding digital publishing of all kinds, we may have to rethink the status of blogging in relation to our on-going research. This article discusses the perception of science blogs, and their status as a genre. It explores some blog threads talking about research blogging: are blogs a great way to improve outreach, or just dumbing down? Should we use blogs for publishing serious findings, or brush them aside as edutainment – preferably done by somebody else? Research blogs are explored in the context of science communication and research writing traditions, and their old and new features discussed.