Friday, July 27, 2007
Not your friend, but a remarkably unable simulation
Micah Sifry on his new facefriend, Howard Dean: ...who really believes that a friend request from a politician is actually coming from that person, for real, as opposed to a staffer who is working their profile for them?
Also, So, now Howard Dean has "poked" me. I've poked him back. Is this communication?
The follow: Well, it wasn't really from Dean. What I did get was an email from the person who is paid to "be" Howard Dean on Facebook, or rather, one of the staffers behind his profile...
And, ...same as it ever was...
Getting schooled
I'm at the Summer Doctoral Program of the Oxford Internet Institute, being held at Harvard in partnership with the Berkman Center. I'm a tutor, though I feel more like a student, since I'm learning so much from the smart young folks in the program. Listening to Chintan Vaishnav's thinking on system dynamics, for example. Ben Peters on history. Daithí Mac Síthigh on intellectual property law in Europe and Canada, AllaZ and Ismael Peña-López on blogging all the above, and more. Alla knows (and studies) tagging, which is how I was able to find and visit some of the sessions I missed. [Later...] Fred Stutzman too.
Thanks (or blame) to schedule conflicts, I've only been able to catch the last two days of the program, which is a bummer. So if you notice light blogging, there's a good reason. I'm soaking in all I can.
Bonus links from John Palfrey, Ethan Zuckerman,