So, goodbye scienceblogs.de, welcome to blogs.fediscience.org! Ever since the “Konradin Mediengruppe”, the publisher behind the German blog platform scienceblogs.de, announced that it would cease operating the platform at the end of 2022, it was clear that my blog “rupture de caténaire” needed a new home.

Yet, I did not simply need the answer to the „where to now?“-question. „For whom? – Who shall my audience be?“ demanded an answer, too. And also: „Do I want to continue blogging?“

So, let’s start with a brief look back. When I started my blog in 2019, I wanted to express „my“ view about science – and with pleasure, I also sometimes made fun of science deniers and science twisters. But above all, I wanted to write about „best practices“. Because in my field – computational sciences, in particular bioinformatics and high-performance computing – there is a lot going wrong (#reprodicibility crisis!), and maybe, just maybe, I could push a few things in the right direction. And if I am honest with myself and you, I need to confess, that I had issues with my former head of the IT centre’s attitude towards life sciences. So, yes, some bits in between the lines begging for better support could be found, too.

Then came Covid and with the pandemic, my blog lost direction: When a former collaborator and retired professor at my university went among science deniers, vaccination critics and even flirted with Nazis, I simply had to raise my voice. Admittedly, this gave a few new contacts, which I do not want to miss. But above all, it gave the blog more clicks and the publisher (via the placed ads) more income.

Despite the boost by hot discussions on my and other blogs during this time, it was impossible to stop the decline of scienceblogs.de. Even when it was announced that the platform will continue, I remained sceptical: too many fellow bloggers made it clear that they will not return to the platform. By many it was considered „dead“. Besides, too many internet trolls felt and feel at home on scienceblogs.de.

Yet, I am not writing here to look back. I want to look forward: blogging about scientific discoveries might have had its heyday. But I firmly believe: blogging about science for fellow scientists still has its niche in the big, big internet. Despite alternative media (vlogs, podcasts, even print) we scientists occasionally like to procrastinate and like to see something written – and given the time to digest it all at our own pace, we might even like it.

So, here I am, lucky that we as a team could work out „blogs.fediscience.org“, a true scientist-to-scientist-blog platform. A place to discuss those things in detail, which might not fit on Mastodon. And with this redefinition of my intended audience, blogging might be a lot more fun. And – who knows? – perhaps a few of you will indeed profit? No, no! Not from my view alone. Surely not! But from lively discussions among equals.

There is one more thing: You might find the occasional article written in German for a German audience, or even a non-scientific subject. Then there will be articles written in English. We will see how this will work out…