Magdalena Skipper, Editor of Nature, can only dream of Facebook’s membership figures. The only real difference between Facebook and more mainstream science journals like Nature or the British Medical Journal is their status as ‘peer reviewed’.
Today we look at the peer review process and ask: what exactly is a peer?
The dictionary definition is “a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status”. It’s clear that a knobhead posting misinformation about 5G masts is a peer for other knobheads, so a ‘Like’ or ‘Share’ on Facebook can be considered a peer review.
The news has been welcomed by conspiracy theorists, nutters and the Daily Mail.
With this matter clarified, all that remains is for Facebook’s members to receive their fair share of research funding. We would suggest 90%, to reflect the number of subscriptions.
