By now, most of you probably know that a good chunk of former and current SB bloggers along with others from our humble little science community have gotten together in a new Science blogging Collective, Scientopia. With all these new announcements, I think its time for some housecleaning. Now, don't anyone get all hot and excited thinking, lowly little SM is moving out. I have not been honored with an invite (hint hint in case anyone is reading!:))). Honestly though, I am pretty sure my infrequent posts, bad grammar / spelling and focus on all things monkey are probably not appropriate for a science based blog collective, but gal can wish can't she??
Neways, with all the moving around I figure I should update the links on the side bar along with google reader. So if you'd like a shout out, please let me know!
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11 months ago
32 comments:
From what I can tell, there weren't any women-in-science blogs selected except Zuska (Dr. Isis's Scientopia blog is expressly sciencey stuff). I thought that was interesting.
I think there are a few women-in-science blogs there. Candid Engineer and Prof-in-training come to mind.
Hey, you have my old blog listed. Should link to mrsspit.ca
Kate - I'm not sure I would say its light on the Women-in-Science, but maybe light on the science policy / diversity / minority issue perspective. However, its a brand-spanking, non-money generating collective. I, for one, would like to see it how it develops. Would I have been delighted and over the moon if I was asked to join, of course! Am I shocked that I wasn't? Nope. I have strayed from science/grad student stuff because some of figured out who I am and I'm relatively happy where I am :)
Anon - yep as Cristina, the science librarian as well as on the co-authors of Childs' Play. So interested in seeing what they write about.
Mrs.Spit - done! Sorry, I had updated my reader, didn't even think about the link.
I didn't get an invite either - though I guess me wanting to leave academia and all my posts about Baby G, the house and other very non-science stuff probably don't help my cause! LOL!
You can update my blog name to "Apple Pie and the Universe" if you'd like!
SM - yes, that's what I mean by women-in-science (or anything-but-white-guy-in-science who directly talks about the anything stuff).
Kate - hopefully over time it will get better. I noticed that I'm on Zuska's blogroll so maybe! :)
On another note, am I the only one that didn't know about LabSpaces?
SM> nope. it's fairly new too. (whisper; I got an email telling em to go check it ;) ) I dunno, I feel over all that I am too flaky in my blogging, as in too private and personal about stuff, to move my entire blog anywhere.
I guess I could keep myself focused and only write science stuff and be more "grown up" but i started my blog mainly to vent to a couple of people who didn't know me irl and who could give me some perseptive on thier view of science, post doc and life...
sounds very pretentious maybe? or naive? part of me wants to have a BIG blog with huge amount of readers who worship me... then I remember that with crowds, come haters. again, my little private corner seems kinda nice :)
Chall - I know what you mean, it would be nice to have more readers and be worshipped, but then come the haters and the snoopers. The bigger you are, the more careful you have to be about what and how you write. totes envious that you got asked! I'm not sure I would move over, if I was asked, but darn its always nice to be invited isn't it?
Huh, I had no idea about Scientopia. I agree - the diversity end of it is sorely lacking. The bloggosphere definitely has the atmosphere of a high school. I never ran with the popular kids in high school. But then again they were all blonde haired and blue-eyed...
I know, no invite for me either! But I sort of feel like you, need time to get my own house in order (improve my writing, get clearer about what I want to write about) before I'd feel confident to go off somewhere else. However, if you'd like to add me to your reader or sidebar I'd be honored! Just a pseudo-engineer blogging about school, work, cats, coffee and sometimes something engineering related.
SM> worshippped.... ahhhh... yummm!! ;)
not that it happens.
it was a bit of a shock, didn't know 'people' really read little me. so, we'll see. I've been working like crazy lately and not really contemplating it. weekend rest will help :)
Yeah, I hear you about the diversity angle, folks. We've come up very short on that one*, we recognized this as a collective (not just as individuals) and believe you me, when we get to a round of expansion this going to be an important issue.
*in our partial defense, not everyone who was invited on board Scientopia felt that it was right for them.
DM - thanks for letting us know your aware of it. And I don't mean that sarcastically either :) I can totally appreciated that bloggers were approached and they said no. Making the move from being independent to being part of a larger collective would require some careful consideration, in terms of the risk/benefits of greater exposure. Not everyone thinks the benefits outweigh the risks. Hopefully, though someone in the near future does.
Not just that, but they seem to be mostly biosci blogs.
Alyssa - hehehe, alot of us weren't so I guess we shouldn't feel bad? I had feeds straight from my google reader, which still reads Mrs.Comethunter so it won't change on the link, sorry!
GPD - Why is the popular group always blue-eyed and blonde? We can't really say that about Scientopia, they do have a Latina and a femiNazi. I am surprised that you weren't approached. I know my writing is not very good and I haven't been focusing on science very much, but not asking you? that is an OVERSIGHT.
FrauTech - done!
DM - if you're following along, GirlPostDoc is a must add!
Kate/Anon- Stemwedel does some women in science content. Rebecca Montague's intro anticipates similar. Chemical BioLOLogy is a woman in science, depends how you'd characterize her content. Dunford and attack polymerase dude are both men but have already posted on being the primary home-side of their respective partnerships. Given the current size of Scientopia this is not too shabby (unless you are seeking an exclusively WIS type of collective)
EGF- a bit unfair. Stemwedel is a chemist (as well as a philosopher). MarkCC-engineer, ditto Zuska. Rob Knop and SkySkull are physicists. Urban Ethnographer is social sci, not bio. two librarians without bio backgrounds.
various comments on quality of writing- I assure you this is not a huge factor. (I write like crap and they invited me after all)It wasn't like a limited number of people set out with a blank slate- we're talking a lot of pre-existing associations here.
re future recruitment: above all else we're letting the dust settle before making any additional moves. This includes awaiting decisions on some of the original invites who haven't made up their minds yet. After that, there is no firm plan in place. We're only vaguely on the same page with respect to an eventual desired number of bloggers. We have had only limited discussions about exactly the breadth and coverage issues referred to in this thread. etc.
So give us some breathing room for now...but do continue to hold our feet to the fire on your respective issues as we get down the road, eh?
Also, can I just say that we're really flattered you're interested in joining us? We've only been up and running a week -- that's pretty amazing!
Wow! I'm thrilled to see my blog over on your sidebar! Thanks so much, that's awesome!
Having defended and completed my dissertation, I've been doing more blogging, so for those who go over there, it will be a bit more frequent now. At least, til some other step in this career path jacks up the time-suck.
BTW, @Chall, I am with you about "but i started my blog mainly to vent to a couple of people who didn't know me irl and who could give me some perseptive on thier view of science, post doc and life..." Although I hoped that maybe my own journey through all this stuff may also help others. But, there's my ego showing.
I'm definitely not amongst the blogosphere's cool kids - like DM, my writing is crap and it was largely pre-existing associations that got me an invitation to join Scientopia. My blog is definitely amongst the smaller, least-trafficked of the collective and, even now, I'm unsure as to whether I want a larger audience or not (I tend to think not). Nevertheless, I was on the verge of moving to WordPress anyway as Blogger screwed me over one too many times so this came at the right time.
In terms of diversity, I not only have the women-in-science thing but am one of the only non-Americans in the collective. As DM said, though, we are only getting started and the burden on our technical genius (MarkCC) is already immense but the membership will eventually expand.
Is always amazing to me to see how comment threads develop.
DM/PiT - if you write like crap, OMG I do not want to know what you think my blog writing is. IRL, I don't write like crap, because I take the time to do it properly (ie proofread, think about what I'm trying to say). I so do not do that with my blog. Its like my verbal diarrhea. I know this because I read some of my posts and think OMG what bad writing.
PiT - you are so part of the cool club! I just love that you don't know it:)))
Balancing Act - Of course you are! I try have all commenters on the side bar, but I'm a reader too!
Hey SM, I don't think it means anything that you haven't been invited yet. I sincerely doubt people are being selected through some kind of rigorous process lol. Honestly I think the value of science blogging communities may be just a tad overblown.
Samia - LOL, I'm not losing any sleep over it! I am honestly not upset that I wasn't invited. Like I said to Chall, I'm not sure the benefits would outweigh the risks. Would I have been thrilled to be asked? Of course, who wouldn't be:) I would like to see more diversity of bloggers and topics. But as I said earlier in the thread, I recognize this is a new collective, hopefully they're working on it.
SM> I guess I shouldn't have said anything but at the time I was a bit proud(?) happy and very surprised. Now, I feel even more confused.
Anyway, @Balance Act "Although I hoped that maybe my own journey through all this stuff may also help others. But, there's my ego showing." I think the main difference between writing a blog post and writing in my diary would be the ego thing ;)
(or in some cases the need/want to hear "it's going to be ok" from someone else than close friends/family)
Although, most of my venting in that area I've deleted since I realised that it would be fairly uncomfortable if someone realised who I was referring to.... as in terms of professors in charge of things where I worked.
This was one thing an outing of a blogger lead to. I don't think it was bad per se - to start reflecting that whatever I write might come back to haunt me. Gives perspecitve.
(sorry for the long comment off mark SM. hope it's ok/)
Chall - why shouldn't you have said something? And you should be happy and proud! I would be :)) Of course there is some ego thing to wanting to have others read our thoughts. And yes having someone say it will be OK is always nice too:)
GPD said: "The bloggosphere definitely has the atmosphere of a high school. I never ran with the popular kids in high school."
I just commented about this exact thing over at FSP's because she was metablogging about whether she'd want to be part of a collective. I certainly haven't been asked, but I don't know what I'd choose. I'm uncomfortable with the constant link-love within communities that I see, because there is less promotion of independent blogs and it feels like a clique. I feel like I have had to fight to be heard on Sb in the past.
That said, I'm glad DM and others have talked about their recognition of their oversight regarding diversity stuff, and put it in the context of who said yes to their initial invites.
PiT - you are so part of the cool club! I just love that you don't know it:)))
I've always been, and continue to be, one of those uncool peeps on the periphery who just happens to know some cool dudes. With the exception of my accent which affords me automatic supercool status, I'll never be cool and have no desire to become so. And my blog will continue to be the disjointed rant that is has always been :)
Pit: I wonder if that's the equivalent of my thing "being friends with but never in the cool gang per se since i never dressed the part"?
S: I just got self conscious since I hadn't decided at the time I said "go look it out". My initial feeling though, "the more ppl reading, the more ppl writing bad things. I guess part of it is/was partly feeling independent and not found on google.
Another part would be "I want ppl to read my blog!" the two combined,maybe there is a way? (like dividing it up for example. keeeping the ranting at one place and the "sciency stuff" at another? we''ll see.
Ach, I was out of town in the hinterlands with no internet and missed the whole discussion.
I also don't feel like one of the cool kids and post crazy things that are not 'professional' style blogging a lot of the time. But I think that's the whole point of this thing: to start collecting a gaggle of blogs that aren't necessarily money-makers but where we can each offer some unique perspective and push each other to be better.
Like DM said, there's a lot more that can and will be done to expand Scientopia, but you have to start somewhere. We're a bunch of people who fundamentally value diversity, and just need to keep talking about and working on how to make it happen without it sounding like over-earnest lipservice. It's a REALLY challenging topic to address functionally. Please keep analyzing us, because we need your input!
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