Science 140
From screen S
ocial media has become part and parcel of everyday life – and in a very short space of time. Twitter
seems ever present and we are all familiar with celebrities and news stories that have had their origin there. We tend to hear more nega- tive things about social media than positive lately. However, I’m glad to report that Twitter can also be a power for good! First off, what is Twitter? If you
have been living under a rock, or don’t engage with social media, Twitter is a text based micro- blogging service. Each message can only be ı40 charac- ters in length – that includes spaces. If you have read up to this point, you would have read five tweets on Twitter! It’s that short! Who uses Twitter? People
from all walks of life and from around the globe. I first started on Twitter in April 2009. I find it’s a great source of news, current affairs – and dental tips too! On initially starting, it’s hard to make sense of all the information and comment that people place on Twitter. Some use it purely for advertising (dull), others to comment on their next cup of coffee (even more dull). However, some smart users can utilise it to engage in snappy debate. And at ı40 characters it certainly is not for the long-winded. Like all dentists, my training is
science based. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to conduct some research at undergraduate level and to follow this up at post-graduate level too. I’ve had a lifelong interest in science, materials and methods. With four daughters I also have an interest in education and, more importantly, in science education. On Twitter I follow the thriving
science community in Ireland – particularly the bloggers. One TCD
16 Ireland’s Dental magazine
science post-graduate student and broadcaster (Aoibhinn Ní Shuil- leabháin) is prolific on Twitter in her stance on science education. By chance, in February of this year, Aoibhinn tweeted the definition of a ‘glo-stick’ – one of those luminous sticks that you see at rock concerts. I happened to be on Twitter as this tweet appeared. I commented that with such a snappy definition – it’d make a great template for further science tweets – and that poten- tially a collection of them would make an interesting (and diverse) book! Aoibhinn agreed. I next contacted one of Ireland’s leading science bloggers : Humphrey Jones. Humphrey is a science teacher in St Columba’s College in Dublin. He runs the highly influential science blog
www.FrogBlog.ie, which is devoted to all things science and education. Humphrey is a tire- less educator and communicator.
I tweeted to him that this science/ Twitter/book idea might be of interest, he agreed and we organised a meeting in Dublin. At this initial meeting we discussed
The cover of the Science 140 book, which is scheduled to be released in October
the logistics of developing this idea. We talked about various topics and how to gather the information. I had previously witnessed a similar project: ‘Tweet Treats’ – a recipe book based on tweets collected by Jane Travers. This book was a labour of love for Jane and helped raise funds for Médecins Sans Frontières. This proved that such a venture was eminently achievable and also had a market. Humphrey and I ended the meeting full of enthusiasm and finalised some of the tenets of the project. Humphrey suggested the title ‘Science ı40’ – simple, elegant and (like Twitter) straight to the point. The next day, Humphrey had @Scienceı40 up and running.
Dentist Paul O’Dwyer explains how a charity social media project made the journey from Twitter to book shops across the land
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