public perception of astronomers

Public Perception of Astronomers

While the article has some.... almost-interesting points, I don't agree with the thesis or the suggested methods. I don't really have a problem with the stereotype of astronomers being the old, white, socially inept guy - because for the most part that's a fair assessment. We're scientists, and at least for me and my peers, that's directly correlated with not fitting in to some social circles.

I agree that we should become better communicators in general, but it's silly to think that embracing new technologies (i.e. social networking tools) is going to change the public image of astronomers at all. Personally I hope to see a backlash against social networking and blogs sometime in the next 5 years, but who knows.... after all, I'm writing a blog post.

Why do astronomers have such a strong presence on the web?

I'm not making this a complete post, just a few examples of blogs and websites I'm aware of. But we do have a strong presence on the web - astronomers have an unusually high google ranking etc. Is it just because 'we' were here first ('we' excludes me, I'm just jumping on the bandwagon and getting a free ride)?

Examples:
Pamela Gay
Dr Lisa

Science writers who write on astronomy:
Dave Mosher