Scientists and social networking

The Internet was originally invented by DARPA for the communication of scientific results. Clearly science requires the communication of results and data. The more efficient the communication, the better.

Yet today, many scientists do not utilize the many communication tools available now to reach the public, other scientists, students, administrators or the press. There is a wide array of easy to use tools that allow for the sharing of raw data, the storing and sharing of citations, commenting on papers, inspiring a new generation of scientists, keeping track of science trends and publications. All these tools, if utilized effectively, should help improve the quality of the work a scientist does and the understanding that others have of that work.