Online vs Offline Science

Science communication has changed a lot in the past few years. With the population online growing at an exponential rate, the presentation and promotion of science also shifted, or rather tries to co-exist, both offline and online. To a great extent, it is due to the pandemic. As soon as everything in the real world closed down, everyone was forced to look for alternatives using the internet.

Global overview of internet usage in January 2022. Credit : DataReportal

This led to a lot of changes in our daily routine. And it also led to changes in scientific outreach and it's participation statistics. The virtual participation in conferences or workshops unintentionally opened doors to a lot of people who couldn't attend before due to various reasons- be it lack of funding, location issues or maybe even stage fright. The registration fees were lower and a 'compromised timezone' was built to ensure maximum virtual presence.

Another issue that was addressed was the inclusion of minority groups. It is no secret that many groups have less representation in academics compared to others. If you ask me which, off the top of my head, I'll say women, black, queer and probably many others that I don't even know about. Female attendance grew by 253% while gender queer attendance grew by 700% (Source), thanks to virtual meetings!

Online scientific outreach also gave birth to a lot of new avenues. Many groups, laboratories and universities started web based chats to discuss both professional and personal life in the lockdown. People found it easier to reach out online vs offline. Webinars became much more frequent and interactive. One example is the MagNetZ (Magnetic NetworkZ) webinars, which is an informal space to present and discuss science related to Earth's and planets' magnetism. Another workshop I attended during the pandemic was the Deep Mantle mini-workshop by the SEDI (Study of the Earth's Deep Interior) community. I'm sure there are many more such involvements in all disciplines.

So, if you ask who wins in the online vs offline war, personally, I'd still say offline. I'm sure most of us, especially the early career researchers actively looking for networking, would prefer attending offline rather than online. Online participation can't beat the old school face-to-face interactions, but it's coming real close with present technological tools. If managed properly and coordinated carefully, hybrid meetings can go a long way, providing the possibility of not being able to attend physically but still being part of at least the important events we would have otherwise missed.

 

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Shivangi Sharan is a third year PhD student at the Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences in France. Her research focusses on the study of the magnetic field of planets and to infer their internal structure from it. She is an active member of the IAGA Blog Team and can be contacted via e-mail here.

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