• Question: Do you believe the internet has changed science for the better? It has made learning about science more accessible to people but on the other hand bogus studies have become widely reported. Do the positives out weigh the negatives?

    Asked by kangster to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB, Ruth on 20 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Peter Balfe

      Peter Balfe answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      Yes and No. Instant answers from Wikigoogletube (I just made that name up, I quite like it!) are useful for being more or less right, but they trivialise science into soundbites which have no context. There are also real problems with bias and the agenda of the writers (see the vaccine lobby for example). It can reduce the truth to who shouts the loudest.

      There’s also a problem with lazy copying of sites into new sites, see this article from today’s BBC website for a graphic illustration!
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22971225

      One of the things lost with the internet is rigour. Scientists like to check their facts all ends up before saying anything (which can make them hard to chat to), whereas the internet just drops “stuff” in front of you.

      That said, I’d be lost without it!

    • Photo: Ee Lyn Lim

      Ee Lyn Lim answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      I think the internet is definitely good for science. It’s true that false reports and propaganda can spread really quickly, but so can actual science news and articles. Bogus studies are dangerous but they don’t have a monopoly on the internet – a smart reader can easily find out if something is true or not, by looking up other websites, or by checking to see how trustworthy that particular website is. Sometimes people who don’t bother to check end up being misled, but that’s the fault of the user, not the internet – without the internet we wouldn’t be able to get real news out there, either.

      I agree with Peter that the internet is good at giving you short bites of information rather than the full picture, but again, people who are looking for the full picture will also be able to find it on the internet. For people who aren’t scientists and just want to find out something quickly – I would rather we be able to learn little snippets of science, a bit at a time, than not be able to learn science at all!

    • Photo: Katy Brown

      Katy Brown answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      I think overall, the internet makes science better. As a scientist, the internet is incredibly useful – all the information you could possibly want is available instantly, so you can get a lot more done a lot more quickly than if you have to hunt down the information in the library or have it sent to you by the authors.

      It also makes a lot of different in making science accessible, although it does of course give a platform for bad science. I think it’s important to teach people how to recognise good and bad science at school, and how to find the good stuff, so that the internet can be used to its maximum potential.

    • Photo: Paul Waines

      Paul Waines answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      I think the positives do outweigh the negatives. As you say, science is now more accessible, but I do think that the scientific community has to work harder than ever to guard against such bogus studies. The bad press which these attarct can undo the good work of many honest researchers!

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