Thanks! its nice to be back - I did really miss you guys soooo much!! I
just needed a looonnggg break lol :)
This is soo important ! I am so proud of you guys for doing this!! I feel
verklempt! lolol
On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 1:16 PM, Sue Gardner <sgardner(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hey Sandy,
I can't remember if I officially emoted joy yet that you joined this list!
I was thrilled to see you here: I meant to say that earlier but I think I
didn't. So, yay, and welcome back :-)
And thank you for this list: it's really great :-)
Sue
Sent from my phone: please forgive any typos or terseness. Please also
forgive top-posting; I can't do in-line replies from my phone.
On Feb 8, 2011 8:13 AM, "Sandra ordonez" <sandratordonez(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Now that I've vented, I've been thinking
of Delphine's original
question(s)
regarding the why...this is what i came up with.
*
1) Improve the quality of information.* Information is shaped by
perspective, regardless of how NPOV you aim to be, and perspective is
shaped
by experience. When you experience the world in a
certain perspective,
you
see things that others don't see. A Chinese
immigrant in the United
States
may notice things that a American born may not
see, just like it is very
likely that a female may notice things their male counterparts don't see.
*
2) Open doors to more groups*.The inclusion of women might have a domino
affect, and open doors for other groups, particularly those that are
traditionally dis-empowered, such as people of color in the United
States.
(You can include whatever other group you want
here..I can only speak to
the
US).
*
3) Improved processes and systems.* Collaboration is improved by
diversity -
everyone in this group knows this. More female
participation may result
in
better collaborative brainstorming and problem
solvin.
*4) Better organization.* Studies reveal that women tend to be great
multi-taskers. IMHO, women are great multitaskers because they also plan
their world to be more "efficient" for multitasking. I can totally see a
group of women helping improve the organization of Wikipedia's rules,
background knowledge, presentation, etc.
*5) Stronger community. *Reports are also showing that more women than
men
are on social media. This is because women tend
to focus on creating
community. A larger, more sophisticated Wikipedian community is so
powerful,
I'm not even sure how to describe its
potential in words. However, it
would
have the ability to help the projects but bring
change worldwide.
*
6) Better image. *Organizations that are ethical are usually favored and
respected by society, which increase's an org's success. I am not talking
"left vs right," and this is not a philosophical question, it is a public
relations one. Talk to any PR practioner and they can share why this
works,
and examples of organizations taking this PR
strategy. And, at a minimum,
I
can guarantee it will increase how many women
worldwide see the project,
which btw are 50% of the world's population.
*7) Better parties and possibly more Wikilove!* As corny as it sounds, I
am
quite positive that more women will improve the
festivities in any wiki
get
together, and possibly result in more wikilove :)
lolol Why not!! What a
perfect place to meet someone that shares your interest, and better
parties
are usually always welcomed.
*8) A better world society.* Wikipedia has this ability to affect the
world
and start revolutions in what seems to be very
silent but effective ways.
I
really believe that the inclusion of women will
have amazing
revolutionary
affects on the world, and make it better.
Channeling Jeff Bridges,
"information is really power, man." And maybe we have come to take for
granted that the world is informed/educated through wikipedia on a daily
basis. This has an effect.
*9) Its the right thing to do.* Wikipedia has always gone against the
grain,
even though at times it ruffled society's
feathers b/c transparency in
knowledge sharing is more important than the agenda of any group. Its
part
of the free culture movement, dedicated to
empowering people worldwide,
and
has done much in that area. Why wouldn't it
come together now to improve
on
this systematic problem that affects not only the
project, but humans at
large.
*
10) Who else is going to do it? *No one has the ability to look and
tackle
this complex issue like Wikipedian community. No
other community has the
strength in numbers, intellect, and structure to address an issue like
this.
I guarantee that other groups will embrace any
solutions the community
finds, b/c its not Wikipedia is not only a pioneer, but its a
"best-in-breed" virtual project that comes up with "best-in-breed"
solutions.
--
Sandra Ordonez
Web Astronaut
"Helping you rock out in the virtual world."
*www.collaborativenation.com*
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--
Sandra Ordonez
Web Astronaut
"Helping you rock out in the virtual world."
*www.collaborativenation.com*