No, not in the primaries. That time has passed. I am still thinking about the science blogging conference in North Carolina.
What struck me most during the conference was the strong sense of community that I experienced in the company of other science bloggers. We were all there for the same reason, even if our blogs varied greatly in theme and tone. There were science bloggers that write about hard core science and the latest publications, bloggers with a political tint, evolutionists, marine biologists, physicists, and even partly goofy bloggers that write about life in science, but not really science itself (that would be me). Even though the focus of everyone’s blogs was quite different, the entire day was permeated by a sense of common purpose and similar goals.
Once I came home to my beloved wireless connection and comfortable spot for my laptop, I realized that we have the beginnings of the same strong blogger community on Nature Network. Sure, we are facing an unusual challenge being spread all over the world, but we are all online, right? That’s the whole point. We are closely connected through our association with NN. That’s the common thread, along with checking email every 10 seconds and looking for comments on our blog posts, if I may project for a second.
So, in the interest of online community building, Martin and I have set up a little poll for you to take to choose a name that binds us and identifies us. Yes, we already have a name. Nature Network Bloggers. You can either stay with the tried and true original, or vote for something a little more slick. If you are a blogger on NN, join the NNBlogger forum and merge into the blogger community that we have right in front of us, no plane ticket or Visa (of the credit or immigration variety) required. The poll will remain open until this Sunday, Feb 10.