When we converted a former e-newsletter into this blog way back in February 2006, we promised you a see-thru look at some of the more noteworthy and interesting research occurring on this campus. In the five years since, we've shared insights about various projects. We've covered a broad range, writing about research on flappers, frogs, fiber-reinforced polymers and focused ion beam microscopy. We've used this space as a forum for students to report back about their spring break trips to Guatemala and summer research trips to Taiwan. Overall, it's been a good effort.
But the time has come to bid Visions a fond farewell.
When we started this blog in 2006, we were one of the first universities to embrace blogging as a means to get our story out to the public. But over the past five years, blogging as a platform has taken off. For example, our news site is, in essence, a blog. You can read stories there and comment on them, interact with the university in the same way you can on any other blog. Our internal newsletter sits on the same blog platform -- although, since it is a more traditional, one-way communications vehicle, comments aren't enabled.
In addition, microblogging in the form of Twitter, Tumblr and similar tools has become more popular. And of course, there's the 800-ton gorilla Facebook. These days, more and more of you are interacting with this university via Twitter, Facebook and our news site.
Finally, with the update of our main website last January, we've moved blogging to the forefront. Those big feature stories you see on the home page all link back to blog posts.
So, with all these other ways to interact and stay in touch, it doesn't make sense to keep this one active. So we are officially ending the grand experiment known as the Visions blog. It was a successful experiment, but one whose purpose has been accomplished.
We haven't given up on blogging. But blogging has evolved to the point that it is embedded in other aspects of our online communication.
We sincerely thank you all for reading and commenting over the past five-plus years. We'll leave Visions up for a while so you can say your goodbyes. In the meantime, please be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And if you really want to keep an eye on our research, visit our research news site and subscribe to get the news via email or RSS feed.
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