Benjamin Mako Hill
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Benjamin Mako Hill
@mako.cc
1.2K followers 440 following 29 posts
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Benjamin Mako Hill is a free software activist, hacker, author, and professor. He is a contributor and free software developer as part of the Debian and Ubuntu projects as well as the co-author of three technical manuals on the subject, Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 Bible, The Official Ubuntu Server Book, and The Official Ubuntu Book. .. more

Computer science 46%
Communication & Media Studies 32%
Posts Replies Media Videos

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 4d
I'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)!

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 6d
Register 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...
Science of Community Dialogue: The Impacts of Organizational Interventions in Open Source Software Engineering
This 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…
blog.communitydata.science

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 16d

Incorrect in the sense that I'm not joining or in that I'm not looking forward to it?

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · 25d
Last 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...
Community Dialogue – AI Boundaries: Refusal and Privacy
Join 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…
blog.communitydata.science

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 14
Interested 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-...
Prospective PhD Student Q&A – September 26th
Thinking 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…
blog.communitydata.science

Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hill

biella.bsky.social
Gabriella "Biella" Coleman @biella.bsky.social · Aug 13
For 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)

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Jun 15
I'm going to presenting about this work at #IASC in Amherst this weekend as part of the knowledge commons track! I'd love to connect and talk! #IASC2025

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Jun 15
Thanks to everybody at @communitydata.science for inspiring and helping carry out all the work. Also thanks to Nancy Joseph and the UW College of Arts & Science for writing such a clear description of my research!

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Jun 15
UW 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!
The Challenge of Peer-Produced Websites | UW College of Arts & Sciences
Communication professor Benjamin Mako Hill studies why successful peer-produced websites (like Wikipedia) eventually struggle to maintain their openness to new contributors.
artsci.washington.edu

Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hill

communitydata.science
communitydata.science @communitydata.science · Jun 13
If 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...
Come 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…
blog.communitydata.science

Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hill, Aaron Shaw

zarine.net
Zarine Kharazian @zarine.net · Jun 5
a 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...
Online Community Resilience: Governing Public Information Goods Under Attack
Online 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...
zenodo.org

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Apr 3
If you can't attend, there's also information on how to sign up for information about future events in the series and/or get information about recordings and other material after the event.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Apr 3
Last 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.

Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hill

communitydata.science
communitydata.science @communitydata.science · Mar 19
We're hosting another Community Dialogue discussing the Role of Community Governance with @zarine.net and @paulgowder.bsky.social on April 4th @ 12pm CT!
You can learn more and register here: blog.communitydata.science/community-di...
Community Dialogue on The Role of Community Governance
Join the Community Data Science Collective (CDSC) for our 11th Science of Community Dialogue! This Community Dialogue will take place on April 4th at 12:00 pm CT. This Dialogue focuses on resisting…
blog.communitydata.science

Reposted by Éric Gilbert, Benjamin Mako Hill

asbruckman.bsky.social
Amy Bruckman @asbruckman.bsky.social · Mar 4
The New Yorker says Wikipedia is a beacon of hope, with quotes from me and @mako.cc www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Elon Musk Also Has a Problem with Wikipedia
Lately, Musk’s beef has merged with a general conviction on the right that the site is biased against conservatives.
www.newyorker.com

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Dec 22
No. I took this picture a year or so ago, I think. I'll let you know next time I'm in town!

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Dec 21
I am bagel in the sense that having eaten bagel I am constituted, in small part, by the knowledge of bagel. But I am not bagellike.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Dec 21
My 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.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Dec 20
"It's SHE's BAGEL." 😂
Logo for "SHE's BAGLE COFFEE" with a graphic picture symbolizing a bagel sandwich, the name, and the phrase "Why so serious? It's SHE's BAGEL!"

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Dec 19
While 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.
Picture of Mika looking concerned next a sign that says, "I'm donut ?" Brown paper bag with the phrase "I am bagel" written on it. Under in smaller text it says "Your Daily Meal | Since 2012"

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Nov 17
Another one for your collection @enfascination.bsky.social.

Reposted by Benjamin Mako Hill

zarine.net
Zarine Kharazian @zarine.net · Nov 9
i 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/...
Governance 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 Interaction
What 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...
dl.acm.org

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 24
My 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: https://wiki.communitydata.science/Dialogues/Complexities_of_Community_Governance (register at the link!).

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 17
I 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.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Aug 10
"If you'd like to be even more confused, click here!" (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope)

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 27
Abbott should have a deferred payment plan for its COVID tests and call it BinaxNOW™ PaynaxLATER™.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 6
Wrapped 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
Two people in front of a large banner that says FIRST DAY in large orange and black letters.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 3
I think I control the DNS. @els.bsky.social: HMU if you want to set that up.

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 3
Turns 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!

mako.cc
Benjamin Mako Hill @mako.cc · Sep 3
Intentionally not mentioning @mikazilla.bsky.social?