A Birthday Wish

On Sunday, I celebrated my 27th birthday. But today is an even more special birthday: today, the entire Scientific American Blog Network celebrates its first birthday. One year ago, this rag-tag team of bloggers began this network under the wise guidance of Bora. Today, we celebrate, as the network blows out its first candle.

But what is a birthday party without presents? No, I’m not asking for money or trinkets – just your voice, in the tradition of Ed Yong. You have been lurking in the shadows, reading posts here and on other SciAm blogs. What I want for my blog birthday is for you to tell me a bit about yourself and why you read this blog in the comment thread of this post.

Who are you? What is your relationship to science? How did you end up at this blog – what drew you in? Are you a regular reader or a casual encounter? Do you also follow on Twitter, Facebook, etc? What other blogs do you follow, and how do you follow them (RSS, Social Media, etc)? And, always the hard question: how am I doing? What do you like, and what could be improved?

Say as much or as little as you want: these questions are a guide, not a strict format to be followed. What I want, above anything else, is for you to express yourself. So be yourself!

Last but not least, the real gift: tell someone else about this blog. Ideally, pick someone who’s not a scientist but who might be interested in what is written here. Encourage them to poke around, read a few articles, then also come here and comment.

Note: If you’re a first-time commenter, there may be a small delay before your comment is approved (can’t be online 24/7!). Once it’s approved, you can comment freely.

First birthday photo c/o Jerad Hill on Flickr

Author: Christie Wilcox

Dr. Christie Wilcox is a science writer based in the greater Seattle area. Her bylines include National Geographic, Popular Science, and Quanta. Her debut book, Venomous, released August 2016 (Scientific American/FSG Books). To learn more about her life and work, check out her webpage or follow her on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook.