The long tail of posters

An example of a power law graph showing popularity ranking.
To the right is the long tail; to the left are the few that dominate.
Notice that the areas of both regions match.
Picture by Hay Kranen

Not so long ago, posters were one time only events. All the time and energy that went into the construction of a poster would only have a brief flicker of life during a conference. Shortly after the conference, the poster would either be hung in a research hallway or tossed into a poster graveyard found in the corner of every laboratory.

Posters now can live a second, longer digital life. Scientists have the tools to easily host and post their posters. You can find mine here.

Most posters will have their biggest impact during the physical conference, the head of "the long tail", but the digital afterlife provides posters with a continuing opportunity to be social objects.