This is an important thread about what we are seeing in our community. Science communication is now more critical than ever. And when that group of professionals is being culled and targeted by coordinating bullying, we have a big problem.

If you’re following a major public https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1357079783797063682

healthy account who, instead of communicating about current trends in the public health sphere, is continually attacking colleagues with a particular focus on minoritized folks, you are unintentionally supporting the mean girls of science who are doing this for their own egos.

I urge us all to look for the science communicators who are consistently looking at and analyzing the data openly, who are willing to have respectful and collegial conversations about why their take on the evidence differs from that of their colleagues, and most importantly, are

discussing the science without straw man arguments, ad hominem, and toxic coordinated bullying.

This is a critical time for science. So it is particularly egregious now. But this type of behavior in academia is NEVER ok.

This author knows it, @DrEricDing knows it,

@jenheemstra knows it.

Privately approach these folks and ask them about the harassment they have endured in the past year. It’s unacceptable, especially now.

I’ve been quiet and respectful. I will not engage in call out culture. But I will ask each and every person involved

to please take a close look at who you follow for COVID information. If they spend more time attacking colleagues than they do actually disseminating science to the masses, that’s a red flag.