It’s no secret that the science blogosphere has undergone massive changes in the past 18 months. There have been new networks (Scientopia, PLoS BLoGs), dramatically expanded/revamped networks (Scientific American, The Guardian, Wired), and networks that are under new management (Scienceblogs). There are even networks that have stuck around through it all, largely unchanged (Nature Network).

I’ve come to come to think of these networks as each representing a distinct niche in the science blogosphere. These niches may not perfectly represent each network, but they’re what I associate with the network, and what I look for when I’m visiting.

Scienceblogs is where I go to find animated discussions about atheism, skepticism, and climate science. Deep Sea News is where I go for things related to oceans and aquatic animals. Scientopia’s bloggers are mostly active researchers, and on any given day their network has excellent posts on what it’s like to be a scientist - from trainee right through to PI. Conversely, PLoS BloGGers are mostly science journalists, who often discuss issues related to their work, as well as large dollops of actual journalistic pieces (there are also a few active researchers there, myself included). Like PLoS Blogs, Wired and Discover seem to be written mainly by professional journalists, doing science journalism. And then there’s the new Scientific American blog network, which is a pleasant mix of several things - journalists, scientists, etc.

I like this new science blogosphere, as it offers a number of different experiences to suit different tastes and even different moods (I find that I enjoy Scientopia while working in the lab, but prefer to read the more journalistic pieces on PLoS BLoGs and Scientific American in my free time).

With all of these choices, I’m curious to know what networks people read most frequently. The survey below allows you to rank the 3 networks that you visit most frequently (excluding any networks where you contribute regularly). I’m assuming that Scienceblogs still has the most absolute visitors, but I’m interested to hear how the various networks rank, and why people put them in that order. I’ve tried to get in the ones that I read and hear about most frequently, but this is by no means an exhaustive list. That being said, some of these networks are far more “niche” than others, so it may not be entirely fair to compare them all head-to-head.

Feel free to suggest ones that I might have missed in the comments. Now go ahead and vote! Check back next week for the final tally.

Travis

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