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Nature Network: Nature.com's Budding Social Network for Scientists

nature science social networkScience bloggers fleeing #Pepsigate or otherwise looking for a new network to call their own might look to one of the world's most prestigious science publications Nature.com to establish an online home. Hidden deep within Nature's website is a budding social network for scientists called Nature Network. It's been 'budding' for a few years actually, but the latest incarnation features on online collection of scientist profiles, forums, and private groups called 'workbenches,' that can be created by network members. The site is intended to be a website for professional researchers, unlike Facebook or MySpace, where scientists can gather together to share information and collaborate. Curiously, the project is so under-the-radar that there isn't a single link to the network from the Nature.com homepage. Nevertheless, Nature claims to have over 25,000 members in the network, including its stable of science bloggers. Some of the more active bloggers include GrrlScientist, formerly of ScienceBlogs, and Stephen Curry, a structural biologist at Imperial College London, who blogs at Reciprocal Space. Even I have a new personal science blog about geophysics and being a scientist at Propagating Waves.

New visitors to the Nature Network will see a rather impersonal landing page, but once you register, login, and start making connections, the network landing page shows the latest activity by all of your personal contacts in your network. See the before (top) and after (bottom) login shots below.

nature network science

nature science social network

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Comments (2)

Nice post Jacqueline and many thanks for the link!

The low visibility of Nature Network is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed but there *is* a link from the main nature.com site (look at the central column titled "Explore nature.com").

Jackie [TypeKey Profile Page]:

Hi Stephen! Glad to see you here.

I'm pretty sure I would've noticed the home page link. I'm thinking they added it just recently.

Isn't the 'net the network anyway? Why do we need a science network within a network, I wonder, other than to enrich the network owners.

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