5 ms·

I often wonder why universities post these press releases for the general public. Epigenetic modifications and memory is still basic research in early investiga

I often wonder why universities post these press releases for the general public. Epigenetic modifications and memory is still basic research in early investigation, known to play a role in memory extinction and reconsolidation for example, but this is still too early research to make any concrete announcements that would have actionable information, esp. for the general public.

culopatin 6y ago
Because people need something to talk about and universities benefit from the publicity perhaps?
- cblconfederate 6y ago
  well people don't know what they re talking about when it's about so specialized basic research. Universities do benefit from the publicity , but it feels like selling snake oil to naive people.
  - bsenftner 6y ago
    This announcement is for student candidates in the field, fellow professionals in the field, and the larger layman field of financing sources for the University.
  - mattkrause 6y ago
    It's not really meant for "naive people": nobody expects you to change your behavior as a result of this press release. The target audience is really science journalists on EurekaWire. They're hoping this press release will get picked up by a science writer for the New York Times or Scientific American, etc. A parallel goal is to demonstrate that the university is doing cutting edge work, which helps with student enrollment, fundraising, and recruitment. This also applies to the funders: they want to demonstrate that donations (or tax dollars) are being put to good use. If it directly catches the attention of science aficionados, that's mostly a bonus.
he0001 6y ago
I believe it’s for the same purpose why we are seeing this. To reach a larger public audience than just the people at the faculty. I mean there might be others that work with this that may never hear about it and miss out on something. If they know the same things, well then it was just x minutes of wasted time.
- cblconfederate 6y ago
  you dont need a layman's explanation for that. This is addressed to the general audience, not to colleagues.
j7ake 6y ago
Universities do research, and publications in major journals are the units of outcome. It is not surprising to put this on the university website because it is good exposure. The people who browse university websites are often other academics, so this is indeed an announcement to the broad scientific community and brings prestige to the university. This would be comparable to winning some scientific prizes, since they are accomplishments that are hard and competitive to achieve. Of course the general public does not care about which scientists win which prizes. This is all part of marketing to get broad exposure to the scientific community first, general public second.
guerrilla 6y ago
To let the public known they are making progress and get/keep them excited so that they can keep getting funding. Also to attract the students and staff they want.
ChainOfFools 6y ago
A classic illustration of the science news cycle: http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd051809s.gif http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd051809s.gif (sorry for plaintext URl, poating from phone and can't recall what the HN markup is for a link.)

culopatin 6y ago

Because people need something to talk about and universities benefit from the publicity perhaps?

cblconfederate 6y ago
well people don't know what they re talking about when it's about so specialized basic research. Universities do benefit from the publicity , but it feels like selling snake oil to naive people.
- bsenftner 6y ago
  This announcement is for student candidates in the field, fellow professionals in the field, and the larger layman field of financing sources for the University.
- mattkrause 6y ago
  It's not really meant for "naive people": nobody expects you to change your behavior as a result of this press release. The target audience is really science journalists on EurekaWire. They're hoping this press release will get picked up by a science writer for the New York Times or Scientific American, etc. A parallel goal is to demonstrate that the university is doing cutting edge work, which helps with student enrollment, fundraising, and recruitment. This also applies to the funders: they want to demonstrate that donations (or tax dollars) are being put to good use. If it directly catches the attention of science aficionados, that's mostly a bonus.

he0001 6y ago

I believe it’s for the same purpose why we are seeing this. To reach a larger public audience than just the people at the faculty. I mean there might be others that work with this that may never hear about it and miss out on something. If they know the same things, well then it was just x minutes of wasted time.

cblconfederate 6y ago
you dont need a layman's explanation for that. This is addressed to the general audience, not to colleagues.

j7ake 6y ago

Universities do research, and publications in major journals are the units of outcome. It is not surprising to put this on the university website because it is good exposure. The people who browse university websites are often other academics, so this is indeed an announcement to the broad scientific community and brings prestige to the university. This would be comparable to winning some scientific prizes, since they are accomplishments that are hard and competitive to achieve. Of course the general public does not care about which scientists win which prizes. This is all part of marketing to get broad exposure to the scientific community first, general public second.

guerrilla 6y ago

To let the public known they are making progress and get/keep them excited so that they can keep getting funding. Also to attract the students and staff they want.

ChainOfFools 6y ago

A classic illustration of the science news cycle: http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd051809s.gif http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd051809s.gif (sorry for plaintext URl, poating from phone and can't recall what the HN markup is for a link.)