What Is The Place Of New Science Bloggers In Today's Science Blogosphere?

Science blogging networks are fixed communities on the web. They are basically groups of science bloggers who use a same website (portal) to share their writings to a vastly similar audience. Sometimes networks grow as they welcome new bloggers and sometimes they shrink as some bloggers depart. This is normal and forms part of the ecosystem. All in all though, networks mostly remain the same size. Not many, if any, will decide to double the number of bloggers in their ranks du jour au lendemain (overnight). Thing is, they remain the same size in spite of the increase in the number of science bloggers out there.

There are a number of reasons why science blogging networks cannot keep increasing in size. The important thing to grasp is that a blogging network is not meant to be as dynamic as the web. A reputable network presents readers with a set of respected bloggers which readers either trust or grow to trust. Readers need not like all the bloggers in a network but the successful networks are those who host bloggers with whom different sets of readers have become familiar with. This is actually a major selling-point for any network: familiarity or a feeling of community. To preserve the familiarity, a network cannot accommodate an ever-increasing number of bloggers. Doing so would dilute the voices of bloggers and create a sense of disharmony both amongst bloggers and readers. Fail.

As I've alluded to, the inability of networks to grow poses a problem. The web is growing exponentially: its growth keeps accelerating. More people share photos on Facebook, more people upload LOLcats videos on youtube and more people start to blog. There is no reason to believe that the number of new science blogs is not following the trend and increasing as well. Keep up with the logic and we can deduce that the more new science blogs are started, the more the number of quality science bloggers on the web. Furthermore, many novice science bloggers improve and mature to become fully-fledged quality bloggers themselves. All in all, the number of quality science bloggers on the web is ever-increasing. And yet, the sizes of reputable science blogging networks are not. What this all entails is that new quality science bloggers are not getting the same chances of those science bloggers hosted by reputable networks even though they are as good (or better).

Not only is this unfair but it's also un-meritocratic. What will happen to those new science bloggers? They will conglomerate in different groups or networks. In the future, I expect the number of independent science blogging networks (in the same vein as Labspaces and Science 3.0) to increase considerably. But although independent networks may provide bloggers with a boost in readership, none of them come with the reputation stamp of Scientific American, PLOS or Wired.

The principal aim of science publications, those reputable science blogging networks and their science bloggers is to spread science-to enhance the communication of science. To fulfill this aim, science publications initially did the science communication themselves. Then, they started to host and promote science bloggers thereby multiplying their ability to spread science. Now, it's time to look beyond and start promoting the new but quality science bloggers.

Reputable science blogging networks may promote or sponsor or even take under their wings some independent networks. Many reputable networks now have guest blogs which publish science bloggers who are not part of the networks per se. Why not start guest blogs which republish the best posts from some independent networks? Why not post summary-like posts which list the week's blog posts of the particular independent network?

As the blogosphere evolves and more and more science bloggers come to age, more independent science blogging networks will be formed around topics of interests. We'll have an astronomy science blogging network, maybe an entomology science blogging network and who knows, maybe even a civil engineering blogging network. Such topic-focused networks are different from most reputable networks which tend to cover a wide variety of topics. While the topic-focused networks have 20 bloggers who blog about one topic, the reputable networks tend to have 20 bloggers who blog about 20 topics. So, wouldn't it swell if the bloggers who blog about astronomy, entomology and civil engineering in the reputable networks actively promote the respective independent topic-focused networks on their blogs? I think it would.

The reputable networks may also perhaps diversify and promote science bloggers who blog in non-English languages. Scientific American for instance already has 14 international magazine versions published in different languages (Spanish, French, Chinese to name a few). These publications may start their own science blogging networks and capitalize on the reputation of the Scientific American brand as well as the popularity of the ScientificAmerican.com science blogging network to promote their own bloggers.

Lately, there are some reputable science bloggers who started giving internships. What a fantastic idea this is. There is no better way to learn the trade than to have a quality science blogger as mentor. This should be more widespread and more reputable science bloggers should mentor aspiring ones.

Those ideas here are few and some may not be practical to implement. But I am positive that if blog editors, community managers, science bloggers and readers all put their heads together, some good strategies will be formulated. We all want to promote good science as much as we can. This means that we have a duty to promote quality science bloggers, irrespective of whether they are known or relative newbies.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image credit: Top: Matt Woolner (from flickr) Bottom: Ludovic Bertron (from flickr)