Chemical Education Today
Support Your Favorite Element on Facebook: A Post-National Chemistry Week Update by Erica K. Jacobsen* and Rachel K. Groat
112 elements. Four months. More than 1700 new fans. The results are in. In the October 2009 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education (1), we reported on the current state of the Elements on Facebook Project (EFP). The American Chemical Society's (ACS) Division of Chemical Education started the project to build public awareness of and interest in the periodic table through the “Become a fan” feature of Facebook (2), a social networking Web site. The EFP tied in with ACS's 2009 National Chemistry Week (NCW) theme, Chemistry—It's Elemental!, which celebrated the 140th anniversary of Mendeleev's periodic table of the elements. In the original article, we highlighted the five elements with the most fans as of July 2009, and we promised to report back after NCW with up-to-date data on the top five elements and the element with the most dramatically increased fan base. New people continue to join and post every day about their favorite elements: Carbon I love how your four valence electrons let you make chains and rings and very stable compounds. And I just love that tetrahedral symmetry. Linda
Mercury Mercury [is] more dense than lead and many times more poisonous. It moves like a liquid mirror, [and] it [is] my third favorite element, my favorite being carbon. James
Elements on Facebook Project In brief, the EFP is a component of the ChemEd Digital Library's ChemCollaborative wiki (3). An interactive periodic table brings you to each element's own Facebook profile, which can include pictures, links, movies, and information. Facebook users can become a fan of one or more elements and add comments to the element's profile. Detailed information on how to participate can be found in the original JCE article (1).
Developments on the Elements on Facebook Project Since the initial data collection period in July 2009, the EFP boasts 7216 fans as of early November 2009. This is a 1738 fan increase from the July 2009 count of 5478. In addition to the increase in participant numbers, the project has also grown through the additional information posted by users like you! Not only are people continuing to cheer for their favorite element, they are also using the EFP to share valuable thoughts and connections about certain elements. If you have become an element fan on Facebook, thank you! If you have not, please join us. With greater participation and user input, the EFP will become an even more interesting tool and resource. We hope to continue collaborating with veteran fans and encourage newcomers to join in the fun and informative networking opportunities offered by the EFP. Facebook's Top 5 Element Update Element enthusiasts from around the world responded to the call to “become a fan” and lobbied to put their favorite element into the top spot. Early in November 2009, JCE staff collected new data on existing element fans and reranked the elements according to their new fan base (Table 1). A data table containing the July and November 2009 data is available as online supporting information. Congratulations to mercury and copper, the two newcomers to the “top 5”. Carbon maintained its number 1 ranking, having the most fans of any element, with a total of 467 fans (a 138 fan increase since July 2009). We would also like to recognize one of the overlooked elements of the EFP, protactinium (Pa). Although this element has come in last place in both of the “top 5” data collections, this actinide series member has made great progress in the EFP since July. Of all the elements on Facebook, Pa had the greatest percentage increase in fans, doubling its fan base from one to two. If you love protactinium, show your support by becoming a fan and contributing to its wall posts.
Table 1. Comparison of Rank Changes in the Elements on Facebook Project's Top Five Elements, July to November 2009 July 2009 Rank
Element
November 2009
Number of Fans
Element
Number of Fans
Total Fan Increase of 11/09 Elements
1
Carbon
329
Carbon
467
138
2
Titanium
208
Copper
280
114
3
Aluminum
195
Titanium
266
58
4
Nitrogen
190
Mercury
258
97
5
Potassium
186
Nitrogen
250
60
_
_
r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemcal Education, Inc. pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Vol. 87 No. 3 March 2010 10.1021/ed800095q Published on Web 02/09/2010
_
Journal of Chemical Education
237
Chemical Education Today
Not crazy about protactinium but love a different element in the actinide series? Become a fan of its profile. Or, are you a noble gas groupie? Post a comment on your favorite's wall and tell us why. Like them all? You are in luck! The more element profiles you investigate and the more contributions you post, the more you and other element enthusiasts can learn and share your passion and information about the periodic table. Literature Cited 1. Groat, R. K.; Jacobsen, E. K. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 1168. 2. The URL for Facebook is http://www.facebook.com/ (accessed Jan 2010).
238
Journal of Chemical Education
_
Vol. 87 No. 3 March 2010
_
3. Find the Elements at Facebook Project online at http://wiki.chemeddl. org/index.php/PTL:Elements_at_Facebook (accessed Jan 2010).
Supporting Information Available Excel file with July 2009 and November 2009 Elements on Facebook Project data. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org. Rachel K. Groat is a senior undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in psychology and zoology; groat@ wisc.edu. Erica K. Jacobsen is Editor, Secondary School Chemistry, Journal of Chemical Education;
[email protected].
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
_
r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemcal Education, Inc.
