Berkman Buzz: March 29, 2013

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Dan Gillmor on why everyone should register a domain name

My students – and the rest of us – are partly who others say we are. That's a key reason why each of us needs to be one of the voices (preferably the most prominent) defining us. To the extent that they live public lives in any way – and like it or not, it's getting harder not to be public in some way – tomorrow's adults will need an online home that they control. They need an online home, a place where they tell the world who they are and what they've done, where they post their own work, or at least some of it.

From Dan Gillmor's post for The Guardian, "Why everyone should register a domain name" About Dan | @dangillmor

Benjamin Mako Hill reflects on openness, Wikipedia, and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

A month ago, Mark Donfried from the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) — an organization dedicated to promoting open dialogue — sent me this letter threatening me with legal action because of contributions I’ve made to Wikipedia. Yesterday, he sent me this followup threat. According to the letters, Donfried has threatened me with legal action because I participated in a discussion on Wikipedia that resulted in his organization’s article being deleted. It is not anything I wrote in any Wikipedia article that made Donfried so upset — although Donfried is also unhappy about at least one off-hand comment I made during the deletion discussion on a now-deleted Wikipedia process page. Donfried is unhappy that my actions, in small part, have resulted in his organization not having an article in Wikipedia. He is able to threaten me personally because — unlike many people — I edit Wikipedia using my real, full, name.

From Benjamin Mako Hill's blog post, "The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy and Wikipedia" About Mako | @makoshark

Facebook's data science team examines users cha