Comments, posts on other forums

[Myword]

Do you ever post a question or make comments on internet forums related to your field?
Not much in physical sciences.
Many general forums have a section for different subjects from a to z. Non academic amateurs post there. From my experience, they are not academic or know about academic research or ideas. They will try to rebut or question issues about your field that are obviously true. Some are smart, some naive and unsophisticated. Is this a waste of time?  Of course, they don't know I am a professional.

[mamselle]

If such a thing existed in any of the fields I work with (only really in a couple of situations), I might post a single corrective entry to something egregious (like the ballet forums that do a nice number in anorexia/bulemia denial by inventing the most amazing circumlocutions, for example) but I wouldn't be drawn in.

If factual input doesn't sink in on a first reading, it's not likely to do so after several iterations of the same thing.

And face it, many people are more wedded to being argumentative than to learning anything.

Not that we see anything like that on this forum, of course...

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

There used to be such a forum for undergrads in my field. It's now defunct, however.

If I knew of one, I would. But I don't, so I don't. And I'm definitely not going to post in Reddit threads. I hate the interface.

[downer]

Reddit is the worst.

I haven't seen any internet forums for any academic areas.

I'm not sure if there is much of a distinction between an internet forum and a bulletin board, but I rarely see any internet forums. Bulletin boards are more common. I do find some forums in my areas when I do an internet search, but I have zero temption to get involved in them.

I have been pleasantly impressed by contributions to quora.com, and I can imagine contributing there.

[mamselle]

OH, I meant to ask, what happened after the Grad Cafe was re-directed?

Did another forum spring up in its place?

Or did the new iteration just take over?

I never visited it but recall hearing of it on the old forum...

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

OH, I meant to ask, what happened after the Grad Cafe was re-directed?

Did another forum spring up in its place?

Or did the new iteration just take over?

I never visited it but recall hearing of it on the old forum...

M.

It's still there. Seems slower than it was, but I might be wrong about that.

[polly_mer]

Do you ever post a question or make comments on internet forums related to your field?

Just here.

I follow some useful social media accounts and subscribe to various listservs.

I used participate a lot in a specific listserv because that was incredibly useful on sharing problems with non-commercial software.  That group was not friendly to the complete novices who showed no evidence of having done the relevant background reading.  People who had new, interesting problems with evidence of having tried standard things were welcomed much more warmly than people who clearly weren't doing the homework first before asking a question.

[Hibush]

ResearchGate allows comments on articles. It's not terribly popular, but seems like a good outlet.

I have tried it a few times, but it hasn't generated followup. I hope it catches on. It's not as forward as commenting on the original journal site, though some allow that as well.

ne comment I felt compelled to make was when somebody cited my paper titled "Colonial baskets contain no willow", to support the statement that colonists wove willow baskets. I get that people only read the abstract of papers the cite sometimes, but if they can't make it through the title when I intentionally made it a simple declarative sentence, that's too much.

[polly_mer]

I have a ResearchGate account, but it's been all but worthless to me.  The discussions weren't even interesting the first month.

[Puget]

 

I have a ResearchGate account, but it's been all but worthless to me.  The discussions weren't even interesting the first month.

I use ResearchGate to share my papers and see who is citing them (in addition to google scholar), but have never commented on papers or looked at any discussion there-- I don't think it really gets used for that, at least not in my field. It's much more like google scholar than like a social media/discussion platform, whatever the original ambitions. I do get a fair number of requests for papers that are still embargoed on PMC (you can store them privately there and then send them to the requester, so you aren't violating copyright rules)-- these are largely though not entirely from researchers in developing countries, so I'm happy to have a way to give them access to articles for free. 

[kaysixteen]

Back in the day I posted with some real regularity on various old-style professional email lists for classics, history, and librarianship.  Most are very less active nowadays, and in any case, I am not on many any more and have not posted anything on any of them for years.  That is probably a good thing, as, ahem, well let's just say some of these lists were dominated by people who have often different perspectives than myself, and in my younger days, well....

[Hibush]

Back in the day I posted with some real regularity on various old-style professional email lists for classics, history, and librarianship.  Most are very less active nowadays, and in any case, I am not on many any more and have not posted anything on any of them for years.

I have a ResearchGate account, but it's been all but worthless to me.  The discussions weren't even interesting the first month.

I use ResearchGate to share my papers and see who is citing them (in addition to google scholar), but have never commented on papers or looked at any discussion there-- I don't think it really gets used for that, at least not in my field. It's much more like google scholar than like a social media/discussion platform, whatever the original ambitions.

These experiences all reinforce that online scholarly discussion is waning on the platforms of the last decade but have not migrated to the new platforms that are available. We (scholars of many stripes) are missing an opportunity.

I suspect that discussion could start on RG in some subspecialty. If it becomes an accepted practice, and the commentary is informative, then it could catch on more broadly. It could be the discussion you wish would occur after a conference talk.

[downer]

These experiences all reinforce that online scholarly discussion is waning on the platforms of the last decade but have not migrated to the new platforms that are available. We (scholars of many stripes) are missing an opportunity.

The simple fact is that most faculty devote their energies to what will be good for them. That generally means publishing in peer reviewed journals, writing scholarly books, and then promoting their work in other venues.

Some faculty have worked out how to promote their own work through social media and blog posts.

There will be almost zero temptation to contribute to anonymous internet boards.

[polly_mer]

Back in the day I posted with some real regularity on various old-style professional email lists for classics, history, and librarianship.  Most are very less active nowadays, and in any case, I am not on many any more and have not posted anything on any of them for years.

I have a ResearchGate account, but it's been all but worthless to me.  The discussions weren't even interesting the first month.

I use ResearchGate to share my papers and see who is citing them (in addition to google scholar), but have never commented on papers or looked at any discussion there-- I don't think it really gets used for that, at least not in my field. It's much more like google scholar than like a social media/discussion platform, whatever the original ambitions.

These experiences all reinforce that online scholarly discussion is waning on the platforms of the last decade but have not migrated to the new platforms that are available. We (scholars of many stripes) are missing an opportunity.

I suspect that discussion could start on RG in some subspecialty. If it becomes an accepted practice, and the commentary is informative, then it could catch on more broadly. It could be the discussion you wish would occur after a conference talk.

More than 10 years ago, I sat through many presentations on how social media was really going to change how discussions were done in science.

The "discussion you wish would occur after a conference talk" already happen for those of us who are really established in the relevant community.  One thing I notice most as I travel up and down the prestige ladder is how much easier the cutting edge discussions were higher on the prestige ladder.

At places really doing high-level research (in the before times), we have visitors all the time from all over the world who are eager to spend a day or a week just talking about the research issues.  Grad students and postdocs often get individual (if a rising star in the right specialty) or group slots to talk with the visitors.  The seminar is more of a formal point in the day than a one-and-done fly through.

Even at lower ranked places, regularly attending the right conferences and being seen as a solid member of the community means getting to have discussions on what's being presented.  Attending the conferences as a master's student did indeed mean listening to talks and then trying to find someone who wanted to continue the discussion.  Attending conferences now means talking to all my friends and colleagues.  I may end up in a handful of talks, especially the keynote or invited talks, but most of the conference is discussion in the hall, especially for something huge like the American Physical Society March Meeting.

As an established member of the community with known interests, people send me relevant papers for the specialties that are small enough that we all know each other to some degree.  Grad students and postdocs who have a real shot at becoming professionals in the field in their own right are introduced around.  Anyone who is not on the conference circuit or the visitor circuit is really not being prepared for a job in the field.

In my current position that required me to join a new scientific community (new both to me and relatively new in the world), it would be a complete non-starter to try to set up an "open" discussion group.  People who matter  attend the handful of international conferences that are purposely set up to have a lot of discussion.  People who matter are members of the regular discussion groups that alternate meeting in person and monthlyish telecons held explicitly for the purpose of ensuring the community gets enough discussion.

Yep, students and amateurs may benefit from some sort of additional outlets that aren't dependent on who you know, but those of us with the knowledge don't have the bandwidth to take on something else when we already have good outlets and access to each other's students/postdocs.

[Myword]

So no one posts opinions on popular sites such as City Data? Or quora?  You feel it is beneath you? Or don't care to share thoughts with amateurs?  It may take a long time to get a reply on an academic site, if you get one at all. My feeling is that Ph.D.s are not into this social media