Personal Essay: Fragments in the Blogosphere¹

For hundreds of years, scientific knowledge was disseminated largely through books, journals, and meetings. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, new forms of media such as blogs have enabled near-instant communication of scientific results. Moreover, these platforms allow discussions as opposed to one-way “broadcasts” by experts. In a sense, blogs can be thought of as multiyear, Worldwide scientific meetings with little expense and enough room for as many participants as are interested. This chapter will consider useful features of social media as exemplified by Practical Fragments, a blog devoted to fragment-based lead discovery.