Networking with our peers and discovering new and interesting people is probably one of those needs that is built in to the human psyche. After, that is how humans developed language, and this is what makes all the progress possible. So it is not surprising that we have seen social networks such as Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, etc sprout up. There also seem to be niche social networks catering to specific sections of the society. LinkedIn is the best known of these, catering to the professional community, but than you also have networks such as A Small World for the well heeled.
So it is perhaps, not surprising, that Academics have their own social network. After all, sharing of research and following what issues and topics other academics around the world are working on, creates a natural demand for a service like this.
I consider myself quite familiar with Web 2.0 but I did not know.
I am generally quite fascinated with what some of the faculty of my alma mater are up to. I also like to know what the so called thought leaders today in Economics and Finance are thinking and saying. I mean, come on, look at the economy today. Wouldn’t you want to know what is coming out of the academia today? After all, these are the things that shape the policies and prosperity of the nation tomorrow.
So I search for academia on Google and guess what I find: academia.edu. The best kept secret, at least for people not affiliated with an university, social network. And the best thing is, you do not really have to be on the faculty or enrolled in an university to sign up. You can be an independent researcher and sign up just so you can follow the work of the academics that you are interested in. Or follow a journal that is important to you in your line of work.
Academia.edu is still a fledgling network but has built up quite a momentum. Over 200,000 people are already signed up and I have to imagine that there is still a ways to go. For example, I checked my alma mater (a large state university) and only a few on the faculty are signed up. Imagine the possibilities of collaboration and knowledge sharing on this platform.
Of course, I started my membership
.