Virology blog has been honored with a Seed Media Group Research Blogging Award for the best blog of 2010 in the area of clinical research.
Seed Media Group’s Research Blogging Awards recognize the outstanding bloggers who discuss peer-reviewed research at ResearchBlogging.org. There you can find over 1,000 registered blogs with 10,000 posts about peer-reviewed journal articles.
The awards process began with the readers of researchblogging.org, who made over 400 nominations. Then an expert panel of judges assessed the nominees to select 5 to 10 finalists in each of 20 categories. The registered bloggers then selected the winners.
I am very grateful to be singled out by ResearchBlogging.org, the home of the best blogging about peer-reviewed research on the Internet. It’s especially meaningful that the winners were selected by my peers and colleages. I have been writing virology blog since 2004, and it has always been about teaching everyone about viruses. I love writing, but perhaps the most rewarding part is that I get to interact with thousands of readers who ask questions or make comments in the discussion section. Their words spur me on to always do a better job. They are the silent force behind this blog, and I want to thank them for being here.
There is a reason why Not Exactly Rocket Science won the honors as the Research Blog of the Year: Ed Yong writes beautifully. So I’ll quote some of his words here to express my sentiments: “It is baffling that even now, bloggers often have to justify ourselves against straw-man accusations that we are nothing more than vitriolic agitators, when, in fact, the blogosphere is awash with excellent content. Getting bloggers together to celebrate that quailty can only be a good thing.”
My sincere thanks go to Seed Media Group, who sponsored the awards; to ResearchBlogging.org for executing a fantastic idea, and for hosting a terrific collection of blogs; and to the readers and fellow bloggers who bestowed this honor to virology blog.
Congratulations! Well-deserved. This is one of the very best blogs on the Internet, period.
Congratulations. Not the least bit surprised. This is a great blog.
Aren't you entitled to put a “Research Blogging Awards – WINNER” graphic on your page? You've earned it!
Congratulations, Professor!
Greatly deserved praise for your outstanding blog.
Congratulations Vincent, I'll buy you a pint in Edinburgh!
It just verifies what we all knew, it's the kind that enlightens you.
well done. The posted lectures alone may deserve a reward.
> over 1,000 registered {research-} blogs with 10,000 posts
> thousands of readers who ask questions or make comments in the discussion section
there are not so many here. Where are all the students who were required to read the blog,
all the reviewers,nominators and other researchbloggers.
In the flu-forums we have more than a million posts since 2005, but few experts
(professors,students,researchers,bloggers,.. usually won't post in the forums)
where are the blogs of Palese,Webster,Kirkegaard,etc.
You ask some very good questions. Many more people read blogs than
ever participate in the discussion sections. This is a shame because
often the best interactions occur there. The students in my course,
for example, are rarely found here. I'm not sure why. Perhaps they
feel they have nothing to offer – or that they don't have time. I have
a suspicion that Facebook is the only social media that most young
people use. As for the blogs of other professors – Palese, Webster,
Kirkegaard – you'll never see them. The most productive, and most
competitive virologists have little time to spare on such activities.
Secretly they think I'm crazy to do all this and they are probably
right, as it takes time away from my own research. In the end, it is
all about using the limited time everyone has in the ways they feel
best suits them.
Congratulations, Vincent! Your blog one of my favorite must-visits each day. Always insightful, with doses of fun added in for good measure. I can’t emphasize enough what a useful resource this is for nonvirologists such as myself. High fives!
Lisa Schnirring
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
University of Minnesota
but the question is not whether to start a blog or not – that’s only a few minutes to start.
The question is, how often to write new posts, how often to update.
I think, every famous person should start a blog. Then, how often to update …
you’ll see, how well it works, how much time is needed, how much you enjoy it.
But not starting is somehow elitistic, like secretly thinking blogging is crazy,
or being afraid of negative comments.
>I’m crazy to do all this and they are probably right
but … this is your award thread and you just said how proud you are, so spare these
crazy-thoughts for the times when the trolls come or nobody reads it at all
Congratulations. I think this blog is a great educational resource – and very useful for me to keep up on the latest stories in virology. I am just mystified how you find the time to keep posting all the excellent content that you do. Well, however you manage it, keep it coming!!
DMc
A wonderfully deserved honor for you, Vincent. Your dedication to education at all levels is evident in all of your content and it is inspiring for all of us to see an active, internationally-recognized researcher using this media for promoting one's discipline.
I was just visiting yesterday with Rebecca Skloot and I was telling her how I'd like to expand my real name blog efforts to podcasts like yours in my own discipline.
Congratulations and thank you for showing us how it's done!
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It's not so unexpected, is it? Isn't there a famous (possibly apocryphal) stat that 90% of a site's readers will lurk, 9% contribute a little and 1% contribute regularly. If you want to delurk people, a good thing to do, from personal experience, is to create an open thread asking readers to say who they are.
Btw, thanks for the shout-out Prof. Much appreciated. And just to say that I've now moved blogs to http://blog.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience
In other words, blog readers are like an iceberg. You are right –
posing questions here ('are viruses alive') always gets the most
responses.
Thanks for the blog redirect – it should be
blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience.
It's not so unexpected, is it? Isn't there a famous (possibly apocryphal) stat that 90% of a site's readers will lurk, 9% contribute a little and 1% contribute regularly. If you want to delurk people, a good thing to do, from personal experience, is to create an open thread asking readers to say who they are.
Btw, thanks for the shout-out Prof. Much appreciated. And just to say that I've now moved blogs to http://blog.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience
In other words, blog readers are like an iceberg. You are right –
posing questions here ('are viruses alive') always gets the most
responses.
Thanks for the blog redirect – it should be
blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience.