July 08, 2009

Ed Started It

...with his post asking his readers about themselves. DrugMonkey took up the call and tagged "science-y or academic-y blog[s]" with the meme.

That raises a question I find just as interesting as the secret identities of my lurking readers. Why does Almost Diamonds keep getting listed as a science blog? I know people have waffled on this. Some of folks who have been so kind as to put me on their sorted blogrolls have had a tough time classifying me. But it still happens.

So if you'd care to indulge a confused blogger, please tell me in the comments what kind(s) of content brings you to Almost Diamonds. And if I don't already know who you are, I'd love to hear a bit about your background too.

13 comments:

muse142 said...

/waves!

I think you might get listed as a science blog because
1) you seem to look at things from a reality-and-evidence-based perspective
2) you have ties with known science bloggers
3) science bloggers are objectively superior to other kinds of bloggers, and since you are so cool, people just assume you're one of us.

Numbers 1 and 3 above are the reasons I keep reading your stuff. :)

(Also, I like to think of myself as a science blogger, even though a very piddling amount of my blogging has to do with science. :D)

Anonymous said...

I come here because I like to read what you write. Nearly all of it, though I'm rarely moved to comment (as on most of the blogs I read, in fact).

As for my background... well, you already know as much you're likely to ever know, and probably more than you care to, unless I miss my guess. If I'm wrong about that, feel free to ask anything, I'm more or less an open book.

Mike Haubrich said...

It probably gets listed as a science blog because you tackle issues related to science from a slightly different angle than other bloggers tend to do and it helps draw interest towards the issue.

Jason Thibeault said...

Stephanie, your analytical and research skills count as science, especially if you contrast the posts in which you display such, with my own science posts. All I ever manage to do is to point at other people's science and say "ooh shiny". You actually add something valuable to the conversation. There's lots of good reasons people at science blogs keep pointing to your articles -- because they're worth reading. You're obviously your own worst critic... either that, or fishing for compliments. :)

I'm here because you do a lot of fun conversation meta-analysis (from which I usually learn something), and your short stories are great (so I'm always hoping for that post saying "I landed an agent!").

CJ said...

I don't think I've commented before - if I have it was maybe once but! I read your blog all the time having discovered it via the Pharyngula-Greg Laden stepping stone and getting hooked on the afore-mentioned-by-Jason conversation analysis. That and many of the most awesome commenters from around scienceblogs whose actual blogs I don't read but whose thoughts on things are invariably interesting (DuWayne, Jason, Mike H to name a few) often leave comments here and my lunch breaks are daily sucked up reading them.

I live and work as a glorified copy-paster on the south coast of England and have an academic background in under-achievement and a particular fascination with Stuff as it relates to People which makes your writing particularly appealing to me. I often start some long-winded reply to a post of yours, realise I've run out of free time and don't have enough to contribute for it to be worth posting, delete what I've written and resolve for the umpteenth time to rekindle my own blogorama stylinz so I can bash out my thoughts in my own time. Oh, procrastination. Rinse, repeat.

scicurious said...

I come here because you're awesome! And I like neat short stories delivered to my RSS feed sometimes. :)

cicely said...

Nine. Or possibly ten.

If I sorted my blogs, I would probably sort you into the science pile because, in the first place, the link that brought me here would have to have been on some science blog, and in the second place, it seems to cross reference with other science(y) blogs regularly; for instance, on the Silence is the Enemy blog-fest, and frequently from Greg Laden's blog. And, you just seem....sciencey to me.

My background....50, female, life-long science-nerd (though not a scientist), one son (now 24), atheist, with way too much time on my hands at work (receptionist/data entry/parasite), which explains my ever-growing list of blogs to visit every day. Failing an abrupt change in tone, or your unexplained failure to post new content, I expect to keep coming back.

ByteReader said...

I think the way I got here was I followed a link from Greg Laden to Quiche Moraine to here.

I stayed because: a) you often come up with views from a deep left field that is different from my own, and that is interesting; b) I enjoy your prose, both fiction and non-fiction; c) you poke at ideas with sharp sticks; d) yours and Greg's and Mike's recommendations of food-type places that are local for me.

I'm a computer-science-type person, a rationalist, and someone with weird ideas. I love a good argument.

Dan J said...

I wouldn't say that I consider Almost Diamonds to be a science blog. There's so much more than that here to enjoy. I got here by way of Stephanie's comments on blogs that are concerned with science in general, particularly Greg Laden's blog.

I'm a 40-something geek in east-central Illinois. I'm an atheist. I love science. I do some freelance web design/development work. My regular job is a secret, but doesn't involve geekiness. Shhhhh...

ScientistMother said...

You know who I am, though I rarely comment. Hmm, why are you listed as a science blogger? You write sci-fi? You're on so many science blogs?..

D. C. said...

Simple enough: I've seen enough of your comments elsewhere to convince me you're worth reading.

So I do.

critter said...

I didn't think of this as a science blog.

I'm not sure how I got here; something to do with Mike Haubrich, Greg Laden, & Facebook.

I'm a slightly odd person who finds the stuff here interesting & honest.

Silver Fox said...

I list you in the "Other Science Blogs" category on my blog (other as in non-geology or related), and that's mostly because you write sci-fi, blog about science issues and science writing issues (among other things), comment on science blogs and set people straight, and because I don't otherwise have a category other than "Other Links."

I come here to check out what's going on in the blogosphere and to read your analysis of things. Recently I've been pretty terrible about reading any blogs, though. I try to catch up every other week or so!

Am a 50-something female geologist, currently an "underemployed" consultant in the minerals exploration industry.