Why I think academicians should really start blogging

Hi steemians! After my last post on sleeping beauty papers in academia, it sparked off some of my thoughts on why i think academicians, be it science, engineering or social sciences, should really start blogging! I think it will also be useful for recent phd graduates too! And here are the reasons why.

Engaging and networking with stakeholders

A blog is so much more engaging than a journal paper. It was until early 2000s that there was a strong growth of blogs and in the mid 2000s that the blogs becomes mainstream. With the uprising of new communication channels such as social media, blogs, there are so many ways now to reach out to stakeholders such as students, funding partners, research partners, etc. Blog under your name! Potential funding partners might chance upon your blog and contact you for potential collaboration opportunities! You can even gain some loyal readers and followers, thereby establishing your much needed reputation. Academia is no longer only about reading and writing papers. Networking in your field is also very important and relevant, be it about project funding, jobs, etc. Blogs are also free! Don’t have to wait till conferences to network. However, if you do blog using your own name, remember that whatever you wrote, it is in the public domain. So think twice before writing anything, or endorsing anyone, the things you wrote might come back to haunt you one day.

Promoting your paper and debating with peers

In my last post, i wrote about sleeping beauty papers in academia. @lemouth has correctly pointed out that journal papers can also be "promoted". Maybe you wrote a great paper but no one knows that you did some incredible research and wrote a great paper. And this great paper might have been "sleeping" for a long time! Don't let it sleep no more and start promoting. Cite and write about your own paper in your blog and explain your rationale doing the research in your paper. Blogs can complement your journal papers, and is a good way to promote yourself and your work. This is especially true if you are working in a highly technical and obscure area. We also don't have to wait till conferences to debate with your peers. With blogs, you can expect your peers commenting and debating on your blog. It can be very fun and interactive! Who don’t enjoy an intellectual discussion? You can start by uploading your paper at Academia where researchers share their research and network with each other.

Share knowledge for fun

It is very meaningful for academicians to share knowledge in a fun way. It allows your stakeholders to see another side of you, be it funny, casual, etc. However, blogging requires an active tone of writing which is severely lacking in many academicians. It seems not important but it can also be a new skill set and hardly recognized in academia. You might ask why. First, I would think that it is very easy to explain theory and experiments to your peers. But it is very difficult to communicate what your research is really about to the laymen. Hence, it is a skill to fine-tune the depth of your writing and be able to describe it to the layman. I believe that if your blog has somehow inspired a layman's interest in your work, then you are definitely successful with your outreach!