Self-reflection,online

摘要

Michael Tobis has spent years tackling the controversies surrounding climate-related science on his blog 'Only In It For The Gold'. An Earth-system modeller at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics in Austin, Tobis admits that he may now be more prominent as a blogger than as a published scientist. Although that might not appeal to all researchers, scientists have good reason to take online media seriously. "Scientists have an online persona - whether they like it or not," says Tobis. Online media offer researchers unique ways to express their interests and goals, foster collaborations and garner invitations and opportunities. But even scientists who don't blog or tweet have an online presence that evolves apace - with or without their intervention. Auto-generated profiles from citation databases, Wikipedia entries, even photos from college can, by virtue of a simple Google search, paint an unwanted portrait of a scientist. If unedited, that portrait can cloud a researcher's work, mar scientific relations and even cost them potential opportunities.