So, let's talk about communicating science for a moment - it's something people will need to consider as people figure out whether moving to Mastodon is worth it.
Firstly, #science already has a communication problem. And I don't mean #SciComm.
#SciComm and the idea of communicating science are NOT the same. One is a field of study and work, one is an essential for every single scientist.
We're once again seeing a post ✨elsewhere✨ going a bit viral for asking if you build humour into your talks or presentations.
We can't keep having this conversation. That we do is part of why science is incredibly inaccessible - even to scientists!
If your poster, paper, talk, and book all look the same - you are fundamentally failing all four audiences. And they are four separate audiences!
@tinysapien I totally agree with this. Unfortunately though, there is safety in numbers, and whoever departs from the horrible way everyone does things runs the risk of being judged. It's the senior scientists and scholars' responsibility to pave the way and establish what's OK and what's not, because I don't think they want papers to be overly informal
@daeyoung Published works shouldn't be informal (formal, however, doesn't mean complete loss of voice). Presented, spoken papers are not the same as published works and it does active harm to act like they should be. It literally just makes you look pretentious and standoffish to students and ECRs at conferences.
@tinysapien oh i see you clarify that it's about spoken communication. I should've read till the end of your thread. I agree with you 100%.
OTOH, I do think people want to be themselves, be funny during talks and conferences. But some are afraid to do things differently; some are just lazy. At the end of the day, the ultimate issue is that there's no incentive to "present well" because we've structured academia based on elitism and credentialism: the "your inability to understand is a mark against you, not me" mentality. Raising awareness about effective and enjoyable communication is a good place to start, but I'm just saying something bigger and structural is needed
