Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 18/09/2026I'm helping to run an outreach event for anyone interested in joining my research group (@communitydata.science) as a graduate student. Join us! 022
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 16/09/2026My research group (@communitydata.science) hosts a free/public event this Friday 9/18 with Dyuti Jha (@callofdyuti.bsky.social) and Joe Walther on how online communities can support the emergence of online hate: blog.communitydata.science/community-di... 153
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 17/08/2026Nutritional epidemiologist @mikazilla.bsky.social's face, upon discovering a fridge full of sugary beverages, reflected in a series of Fanta cans. 011
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 15/08/2026There's a little more than a day to submit to our @acm-cscw.bsky.social workshop on free/open source software and AI. (new deadline is 8/15). Hope to see some of you there! 031
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 11/08/2026ICYMI: I'm co-organizing a workshop at @acm-cscw.bsky.social in Salt Lake City on October 8 about AI impact on free software/open source. wiki.communitydata.science/OSS_AI_Works...wiki.communitydata.scienceOSS AI Workshop (CSCW 2026) - CommunityDataOpen source software (OSS) development communities have long provided digital infrastructure used all over the world, and have been a mainstay of CSCW research on online communities and peer… 120
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 30/07/2026Unfortunately, I suspect that when the Seattle Repertory Theater says "Pick 4 Plays. We'll Cover Parking," it's not a promise to provide me with a better location to lock my bike on rainy days. 021
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 08/07/2026Visited the ophthalmologist. Pleased to report my macula is immaculate. 020
Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hillcommunitydata.science @communitydata.science · 19/04/2026Ran Tang just posted a recap of a workshop series at @ufowa.uw.edu that ran earlier this year on troubleshooting in computational research design by Yibin Fan. Ran's post has some great ideas for anybody who'd like to borrow the model! blog.communitydata.science/troubleshoot...blog.communitydata.scienceTroubleshooting in Computational Research Design: Report from a Workshop SeriesVisualization of the messy process that turns into the polished paper. Image generated by claude.ai. This winter quarter, a small group of CDSC students at the University of Washington participated… 031
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillDavid Bollier @davidbollier.bsky.social · 03/04/2026So refreshing to talk with hacktivist and computer science professor Benj. Mako Hill, @mako.cc, about the distinctive dynamics of online collaboration. Many insights into corporate & political enclosures of digital commons, too. More on my 'Frontiers of Commoning' podcast: tinyurl.com/c56v62nptinyurl.comBenjamin Mako Hill on the Distinctive Dynamics of Online Collaboration | Frontiers of Commoning, with David BollierBenjamin Mako Hill has spent years studying the distinctive social dynamics and governance structures of collaborative websites, from open source software (GNU/Linux), wikis (Wikipedia), collaborative... 092
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 31/03/2026Broke my keyboard and thought I would dig out #75514, from one of the previous times this happened, from the QDB snapshot (RIP bash.org). mako.cc/copyrighteou... 021
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 23/03/2026Finally blogged about two papers led by @kayleachampion.bsky.social that show how taboo shapes the production of knowledge on @wikipedia.org. mako.cc/copyrighteou... It was the "not safe for work" work meeting for a couple of years. I miss it dearly.mako.cccopyrighteousrebel with rather too many causes 021
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 01/03/2026May this serve as a corrective for all of us who have apparently been mispronouncing Google chatbot's name. (sound on) 24416
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 22/02/2026Finally blogged about my paper (led by @zarine.net) that seeks to explain why Croatian Wikipedia spent a decade captured by a cabal of political extremists and became a site for Holocaust revisionism, while other similar Wikipedia languages seemed to have fared much better. mako.cc/copyrighteou...mako.cc 1124
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 20/02/2026I'm doing a talk and panel discussion for Open Knowledge Initiatives - India's "Future of the Commons" program tomorrow in honor of @wikipedia.org's 25th birthday. I'll be talking about some of my research on peer production projects' governance and lifecycles. Join me! foc.oki-india.orgfoc.oki-india.orgFuture of the CommonsA collective dedicated to exploring, discussing, and shaping the future of shared knowledge and resources, collaborative spaces, and community-driven efforts that foster the digital commons. 230
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillCori Crider @coricrider.com · 18/02/2026Super interesting blog / paper with a core thesis - that people go to social communities for information, community, or reach, and that social networks generally can deliver only two of these. Good blog by the other Cory here: pluralistic.net/2026/02/16/f... (h/t @bnewbold.net)pluralistic.netPluralistic: Fintech bullies stole your kid’s lunch money (26 Jul 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 072
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 16/02/2026Cory does a better job of explaining my research than I do. 😅 1104
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 16/02/2026ICYMI: Finally blogged about an old paper (led by @groceryheist.cc) that explains why people often engage in multiple groups with overlapping topic and membership, and which helps explain why competition between online groups seems to be rare. mako.cc/copyrighteou...mako.ccWhy do people participate in similar online communities?Note: I have not published blog posts about my academic papers over the past few years. To ensure that my blog contains a more comprehensive record of my published papers and to surface these for f… 1126
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 01/02/2026ICYMI: Finally blogged about an old paper led by @kayleachampion.bsky.social that developed a new method (forensic qualitative analysis) to understand the nature and value of @torproject.org users' contributions to @wikipedia.org. mako.cc/copyrighteou... 012
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 31/01/2026Me: Do you want your coffee in a Japanese or Western style tea cup? M: Yunomi. Me: Apparently not as well as you think I do! 120
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillMichael Ekstrand @md.ekstrandom.net · 03/01/2026This is an interesting complement to the finding that even adding fair risk scores can increase human decision bias (dl.acm.org/citation.cfm...). Context matters and a priori prediction of human-algorithm compositional behavior is difficult.dl.acm.orgDisparate Interactions | Proceedings of the Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and TransparencyYou will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited. 031
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 03/01/2026ICYMI: Finally blogged about an "old" paper led by @groceryheist.cc that uses data from a @wikipedia.org system to show how the introduction of a biased AI flagging system can still lead to more fairness because the humans without the system are even more biased. mako.cc/copyrighteou...mako.ccEffects of Algorithmic Flagging on Fairness: Quasi-experimental Evidence from WikipediaNote: I have not published blog posts about my academic papers over the past few years. To ensure that my blog contains a more comprehensive record of my published papers and to surface these for f… 0123
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 06/11/2025I'm teaching a course on how to build great online communities and am hoping to pair up a few students with people who want to build, improve, grow, or change a new or existing online group. Drop a DM or email if you'd be interested in having one of my students consult (for free)! 0136
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 05/11/2025Register to join me and @communitydata.science Friday (November 7) for our next free/public science of community dialogue on "The Impacts of Organizational Interventions in Open Source Software Engineering" with talks from Matt Gaughan and Igor Steinmacher: blog.communitydata.science/science-of-c...blog.communitydata.scienceScience of Community Dialogue: The Impacts of Organizational Interventions in Open Source Software EngineeringThis dialogue will take place on November 7th at 12pm CT and will explore how free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) projects adapt their work processes to recruit new contribut… 040
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 16/10/2025Last chance to register for an event my research group (@communitydata.science) is organizing tomorrow on AI chatbots that respect privacy boundaries. Our own Hsuen-Chi (Hazel) Chiu will present along with @JasmineMcNealy. Join us! blog.communitydata.science/community-di...blog.communitydata.scienceCommunity Dialogue – AI Boundaries: Refusal and PrivacyJoin the Community Data Science Collective (CDSC) for our 12th Science of Community Dialogue! This Community Dialogue will take place on October 17th, 2025 at 12:00 pm CT. This dialogue explores ho… 010
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 14/09/2025Interested in doing graduate research with me and the rest of @communitydata.science? My research group (now with faculty at six campuses!) is organizing a PhD and MS recruiting event and Q&A. Join us! Details and a registration link is here: blog.communitydata.science/prospective-...blog.communitydata.scienceProspective PhD Student Q&A – September 26thThinking about applying to graduate school? Wonder what it’s like to pursue a PhD or M.S.? Interested in understanding relationships between technology and society? Curious about how to do research… 032
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillGabriella "Biella" Coleman @biella.bsky.social · 13/08/2025For the cover of my next book? Thanks @mako.cc , who found this while biking, as in like pedaling-biking!, through a big chunk of Africa (pic taken en route into Nairobi from Ngong) 092
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 15/06/2025UW published this really nice article about my work on governance challenges and lifecycles faced by peer-produced online communities—the work supported by my NSF CAREER grant. Check it out if you want to know what I've been thinking about and working on!artsci.washington.eduThe Challenge of Peer-Produced Websites | UW College of Arts & SciencesCommunication professor Benjamin Mako Hill studies why successful peer-produced websites (like Wikipedia) eventually struggle to maintain their openness to new contributors. 3288
Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hillcommunitydata.science @communitydata.science · 13/06/2025If you're in Denver for the International Communication Association's annual meeting, see work by and connect with CDSC people. @yibin.bsky.social, @callofdyuti.bsky.social, @mako.cc, Haomin Lin, and Jeremy Foote are all around! #ICA25 blog.communitydata.science/come-check-o...blog.communitydata.scienceCome check out the CDSC at ICA 75!A number of our CDSC folks will be attending the 75th Annual International Communication Association Conference “Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research” in Denver, Colorado… 082
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillZarine Kharazian @zarine.net · 05/06/2025a new short research brief with @mako.cc and @aaronshaw.bsky.social synthesizes some of the work I presented at @communitydata.science Science of Community Dialogues back in April! zenodo.org/records/1560...zenodo.orgOnline Community Resilience: Governing Public Information Goods Under AttackOnline communities steward a complex set of public information goods. These goods face a range of urgent threats: strategic information pollution and governance capture; legitimacy attacks by external... 192
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 03/04/2025Last chance to register for this public event on online governance that my research group (@communitydata.science) is organizing tomorrow as part of our Science of Community Dialogues series. 121
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillAmy Bruckman @asbruckman.bsky.social · 04/03/2025The New Yorker says Wikipedia is a beacon of hope, with quotes from me and @mako.cc www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...newyorker.comElon Musk Also Has a Problem with WikipediaLately, Musk’s beef has merged with a general conviction on the right that the site is biased against conservatives. 22510
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 21/12/2024My current playlist is this diorama of Lulu the Piggy channeling Tupac Shakur in a toy vending machine in the basement of New World Mall in Flushing Chinatown. 170
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 19/12/2024While in Tokyo, nutritional epidemiologist @mikazilla.bsky.social realizes that "if I am what I eat..." The situation in Seoul is similar, albeit less fried and more confident. 3372
Reposted by Benjamin Mako HillZarine Kharazian @zarine.net · 09/11/2024i guess "governance capture" may be kind of relevant these days... i'll be at CSCW this week presenting our paper with @mako.cc and @katestarbird.bsky.social exploring why some self-governing online communities are more vulnerable to capture than others: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...dl.acm.orgGovernance Capture in a Self-Governing Community: A Qualitative Comparison of the Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Serbo-Croatian Wikipedias | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer InteractionWhat types of governance arrangements make some self-governed online groups more vulnerable to disinformation campaigns? We present a qualitative comparative analysis of the Croatian and Serbian Wikip... 02910
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 24/09/2024My research group @communitydata.science will host a public/free workshop on research into online community governance as part of our Science of Community Dialogue Series: wiki.communitydata.science/Dialogue… (register at the link!). 041
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 17/09/2024I realize that because I have several chairs, the phrase "my chair" is ambiguous. To reduce confusion, I will refer to the head of my academic department as "my office chair" going forward. 170
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 10/08/2024"If you'd like to be even more confused, click here!" (source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope) 031
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 27/09/2023Abbott should have a deferred payment plan for its COVID tests and call it BinaxNOW™ PaynaxLATER™. 120
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 06/09/2023Wrapped up an awesome first day at Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy where I'm honored to be part of an awesome class of fellows for 23-24 (w/ @alicetiara.bsky.social as you can see). Excited to be back on the east coast and to (re)connecting w/ many of you! #sabbatical 080
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 03/09/2023Turns out out that my house is on here (@els.bsky.social ), already followed by 66 people, and has posted pictures from events I was present for! 120
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 26/08/2023Japanese macrobiotic biscuits reminding me to upload my plant and animal photos to iNaturalist. 110
Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hill🍊 @mikazilla.bsky.social · 26/07/2023An ad for an app to look for new jobs... #ohnojp 021
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 25/05/2023I'll be at #ICA23 with a big chunk of the Community Data Science Collective. Check out this blog post that documents all the great stuff that folks from my research collective will be doing and presenting. blog.communitydata.science/communit…blog.communitydata.scienceCommunity Data Science Collective at ICA 2023The International Communication Association (ICA)’s 73nd annual conference is coming up soon. This year, the conference takes place in Toronto, Canada, and a subset of our collective is showing up … 051
