I take issue with 2 contentions made here. 1. Defamatory wikipedia entries are only micro, so they can't hurt the universe. BUT, they can sure hurt the individual. Supposed I put an entry about a mythical grad student named Dinah Bayd, saying she plagirizes her papers. This could harm her career immensely. DISCLAIMER: Dinah Bayd is a made-up name. Neither I -- nor Google -- has ever heard of her. If she does exist, I am confident that she does not plagirize. Neither I am sure does someone who has a similar name (and frequently posts to this list.;-) 2. danah boyd contends that wikipedia entries are patrolled so often that they are self-correcting. I wonder. I certainly didn't know for months? that an entry existed in my name. It slurred me a bit, although not legally defamatory. It was finally corrected, but I don't go back daily to check it. Most of us are too busy or even more likely -- too unaware of Wikipedia to do such patrols. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 To network is to live; to live is to network _____________________________________________________________________