A Community of (Hybrid) Practice: Identifying the Cultural Influences of Journalism, Academic Extension and Blogging Within the External PLOS Blogs Network

This study aimed to explain the cultural practice of an online science communication environment called the External PLOS Blogs Network (EPBN). Specifically, this study explains the EPBN's practice as a consequence of three main cultural influences---journalism, academic extension and blogging---which have converged in the Network and seeded a hybrid practice.;Through an analysis of blog network content and interviews with blogger, the EPBN was characterized as a practice-based community. The Network's practice integrates norms from the three aforementioned science communication subcultures. It also merges a combination of technical structures and social dynamics that are typically considered to be anachronistic.;The findings contribute to the body of literature that addresses online science communication processes, where the amount of empirical studies is currently limited. Further, the chracterization of the EPBN serves to contrasts dominant assumptions about the progressiveness of communication through new media technologies. The Network relies equally in traditional practices (from mainstream media and academia) and contemporary practices (from the blogosphere) to support a community of science-minded individuals.