The people vs science: can passively crowdsourced internet data shed light on host-parasite interactions?

ABSTRACT: Every internet search query made out of curiosity by anyone who observed something in nature, as well as every photo uploaded to the internet, constitutes a data point of potential use to scientists. Researchers have now begun to exploit the vast online data accumulated through passive crowdsourcing for studies in ecology and epidemiology. Here, we demonstrate the usefulness of iParasitology, i.e. the use of internet data for tests of parasitological hypotheses, using hairworms (phylum Nematomorpha) as examples. These large worms are easily noticeable by people in general, and thus likely to generate interest on the internet. First, we show that internet search queries (collated with Google Trends) and photos uploaded to the internet (specifically, to the iNaturalist platform) point to par

SUBMITTER: Doherty JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11010187 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature