Research talk for ARCSON, http://arcscon.tumblr.com/

1. All the Science That Is Fit to Blog:
An Analysis of Science Blogging Practices
PAIGE BROWN JARREAU

2. All the Science That’s Fit to Blog
• Routines, norms, values and content decisions of science bloggers
Qualitative, in-depth Interviews
Summer 2014
Survey of 600 science bloggers,
Fall 2014

3. In-Depth Interviews
HOUR-LONG, QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS WITH
51 SCIENCE BLOGGERS
DIGITAL INTERVIEWS
31 WOMEN / 20 MEN
19 INDEPENDENT BLOGGERS
21 NEWS MEDIA NETWORK BLOGGERS
7 NON-NEWS-MEDIA NETWORK BLOGGERS
22 PAID TO BLOG
19 CAREER COMMUNICATORS
29 IN SCIENCE RESEARCH / ACADEMIA
12 CURRENTLY STUDENTS
7 GROUP BLOGGERS
3 PSEUDONYMOUS BLOGGERS
US / UK CENTRIC

4. Survey of Science Bloggers
ONLINE SURVEY
610 VALID RESPONSES
345 MALES
256 FEMALES
400 INDEPENDENT BLOGGERS
210 NETWORK BLOGGERS
Index of
2,112 Science Blogs

5. Blogging Practices: Major Themes
(based on qualitative interview analysis)
• Blogging for Myself…
• Blogworthiness determined by personal interests (“things I find
interesting/cool”) and passions, enjoyment and self-expression
(a creative outlet).
• Using oneself as a proxy for readers: ‘if I’m interested in this,
others will be too.’
• Writing freedom a key characteristic of blogging
• … to Popularize Science
• A translational/explainer role
• Considering reader interests (science of everyday things;
relatable)
• Reaching a broader audience
• Wow factor
• Majority of surveyed science bloggers blog for a science-
interested non-specialist general audience.

6. • Journalistic Routines
• Blogworthiness determined by traditional news factors,
including what is topical and timely, novel, unexpected,
important/relevant to the reader or society, etc.
• Science bloggers may be socialized into journalistic practices
• Outreach, Education and Engagement
• A majority of science bloggers mentioned outreach or
educational approaches to selecting/producing blog content
• Communicating the process and realities of science
• A strong motivation to popularize and explain science to non-
expert audiences characterizes much of science blogging today
Comicfromxkcd.com
• As an Expert
• Staying within one’s area of expertise,
translating research or countering
misinformation based on one’s own
expertise
• 21% of surveyed bloggers having Master’s
degrees and nearly 48% (N = 290) having
doctorate degrees

7. How often do you
engage in the
following roles in
your blogging?
Survey question based on
Fahy, D., & Nisbet, M. C. (2011).
The science journalist online: Shifting
roles and emerging practices.

8. Perceived Blogging Roles depend on…
• Occupation
• (research/academia vs. writing/journalism)
• Science Communication Training
• Those with scicomm training engage in the role of advocate significantly
more often than those without such training even when controlling for
other factors
• Gender
• Male science bloggers report engaging in the roles of watchdog and media
critic more often than do female science bloggers. Female science bloggers
report engaging in the role of explainer more often.
• Blog Location
• Network bloggers engage more often as public intellectuals and
investigative reporters

9. Blogging Practices: Major Themes
• The ECOSYSTEM Approach
• Science bloggers are paying attention to content that their
fellow bloggers and science writers are producing
Phil's 1stPix, Flickr.com

10. Ecosystem
Approach
Value-Added
Blogging
Finding a
Niche;
Something
Different
Avoiding stories/topics covered
(well) by others
Keeping track of blogs in one’s topic area
Having a unique angle or
something to contribute
Sticking to
core topics
Focusing on exclusive,
unique content
Blogging to fill a
topic/niche gap
Not a slave to
the news cycle I can elaborate on
this, do something
special with this
Blogs as a place for
opinions, interpretation,
personal commentary
Having a creative
spin on a story, a
personal insight, etc.

11. What factors
determine science
blog content?
Adaptation of Shoemaker and
Reese’s hierarchy of influence
model

12. Social Network Analysis
SURVEY PARTICIPANTS ASKED TO LIST
UP TO THE TOP 3 SCIENCE BLOGS
THEY READ ON A REGULAR BASIS.
DATA MAPPED IN GEPHI
COMMUNITY DETECTION BY
MODULARITY CLASS

13. Jarreau, Paige B (2014): MySciBlog Survey -
Top Read SciBlogs by SciBloggers. figshare.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1278974

15. Summary
• Large majority of science bloggers blog for themselves and to popularize
science.
• Many science bloggers adopt scientific community values including
concern for education and outreach in the production of their blogs.
• Growth and professionalization of the science blogosphere has had an
impact on approaches, values and routines.
• Ecosystem Approach
• Community-level factors shape science blog content
• Other bloggers; Online vulnerability and community acceptance
• Mix of traditional journalistic routines and emergent science blogging
routines
• Logistics and editorial processes can strongly guide network and group
blogging content routines, and even “independent” bloggers’ decisions

16. Thank You
bit.ly/MySciBlogThesis
Download the dissertation!
(case sensitive)