Drug discovery in the era of Facebook-new tools for scientific networking

Social networking is beginning to make an impact on the drug discovery process. While bioinformatics and chemoinformatics underpin research at a scientific level, rapid communication between individual researchers across continents now allows the global exchange of ideas, tools and technologies. Networking at this level of speed and reach is quite a recent phenomenon. It facilitates the development of common interests, accelerates technology transfer and increases cooperative and competitive behaviour. In this review, we critically evaluate different web based networking approaches as effective resources for the drug discovery scientist. We also ask whether social networking sites will evolve into serious and credible resources for the drug discovery community.