Well, Monkey Do has again been busy, and again the partner-in-web is Seed, and again it’s a Movable Type installation — but this time we’re actually using it for blogs!
ScienceBlogs is the world’s largest conversation about science. It features blogs from a wide array of scientific disciplines, with new voices coming on board regularly. It is a global, digital science salon.
Seed has talked 14 prominent science bloggers into forming a topical blog network — the topic being Science, of course (with a capital S). Some of the names include PZ Myers (of Pharyngula fame), Chris Mooney, Ed Brayton and Tim Lambert. There’s already something for everybody, except ID proponents. Maybe later. (Just kidding.) (Maybe.)
There can be something slightly hinky about blogging-for-profit, in my opinion. It takes work to reassure your readers that you aren’t being edited by the company or sponsors you’re blogging for. I’d like to make clear, as the bloggers are doing as well, that Seed is not restricting them in any way. There is no editorial voice, and there is no editing of anything the bloggers write.
The bloggers have full control over the content, voice and conversations on their site, just as they did before.
This is an incredibly important point, especially considering we’re talking about academics and academic blogs — and is why I joked about ID proponents earlier. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that an ID-friendly blogger would want to blog for Seed. If one did, they would be just as free to speak their mind as Myers or Mooney or Lambert.
In my ealier post, I described the process of wrangling Movable Type to act as a news portal, which was challenging, but highly satisfactory (and in retrospect, very intuitive). This time it was MT as it was meant to be — all about the blogs. It’s still in the initial phases, but things are looking good. Items to come in the future — more templates, easier customization for the bloggers, and more and more blogs.
Please do check them out. They’re already writing at a fantastic pace.