ACS: Your brick-and-mortar and virtual network all in one

Abstract

Is the American Chemical Society your professional network, or is it your social network? For me, the line between my professional and personal contacts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn has blurred. This is partly because my professional contacts have become friends, and social media friends have become colleagues. But the line has also blurred because my professional contacts often communicate their chemistry to me through social media. That doesn’t mean I will necessarily listen—which is why the brick-and-mortar part of ACS is so crucial. That is, I am more likely to interact with people on social media whom I recognize as chemists from my ACS interactions, and I then look for them at my next ACS national meeting. A professional network like ACS can serve as your local coffee shop if you interact with it through your student chapter or your local section. Just like at a coffee shop, the