Blogs - The best bet to communicate science by scientists

Science communication series - part 7

I have read recently some very interesting blogs done by scientists. They were written in a very simple language, aimed at common men, published not only in science journals but also on online News papers ( Examples: Scientific American, Plusone, Guardian), and are easily accessible to everybody in the world. Scientists - whether just trained in or practicing science - discussed both scientific discoveries and inventions and merits and demerits of controversial subjects in these blogs.

There are several plus points to these blogs.

1. Scientists are now communicating directly with laymen. When you read the comments below these blogs, you will notice, people from all the backgrounds - including the religious ones - are following and reading them!

2. Men on the street can get clarifications from the scientists themselves, discuss science directly with them through comments section, and gain first hand knowledge unlike earlier times where journalists acted as mediators and communicated science, which had several drawbacks.

3. Scientists, by directly talking to people outside their field, are learning fast how to write and talk about science in a simple language by understanding the difficulties faced by the people during science comprehension.

4. The distance between the scientific world and ordinary world is decreasing.

5. Scientists are writing on a variety of subjects, even the most difficult and untouched ones till now by the journalists because of the complexity of the subject matter.

6. People now can understand controversial subjects in a better way and decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong for the societies they live in.

7. Nothing - especially the most important points - could be lost in translation as the best people to know the subject and translate it, i.e., scientists themselves are involved in the process of communication.

8. Scientists can write whenever they are free as there will be no fixed time parameters to write blogs. They can even give replies whenever they want. "Lack of time" as an excuse to science communication is no more relevant with regard to these blogs.

9. Man on the street can get a better point of view on all the aspects of science from the world of science itself.

10. There is new way of thinking to follow for the man on the street.

11. Sometimes the common people are helping the scientists in science policy matters too because of their better science comprehension.

When there are so many benefits, more and more scientists should be encouraged to write blogs to communicate science especially their own work.