[Foundation-l] Wikimedia brand survey open

[Guillaume Paumier]

Hello,

On 6/1/07, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
>
> On 5/31/07, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> >
> > It is not decided that anything will change at all, and if it will,
> > the parameters of that change are very much up to debate. This survey
> > is an informal project I have initiated to collect some data for
> > further discussion.
>
> > It is worth considering, when it comes to majority decisions on such
> > matter, that a group can be its own worst enemy:
> > http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
>
> Right, and it was precisely that essay that I had in mind when saying
> this.
> To give an example, I would suggest that Wikipedians (who aren't involved
> in
> Wikinews) shouldn't be involved in a discussion as to whether or not to
> change the name of Wikinews, because they are not at all part of the core
> group of the Wikinews project.  That would be as silly as letting Chinese
> students who don't feel that Tibet is a country vote down the creation of
> a
> Usenet news group for discussing Tibetan culture.


For once, I partly agree with Anthony (« une fois n'est pas coutume », as we
say in French). Although forbidding Wikipedians to take part in discussions
is a bad solution, this situation should be taken in account when analysing
the results of this survey. Many Wikipedians who don't edit other Wikimedia
projects think Wikipedia is the central project and others projects should
be somehow assimilated. The fact is the "other projects" *don't want* to
fall under the Wikipedia umbrella. They are fine with their current project,
although they would certainly like to recruit. But they grow their way. They
must definitely not be forced to undergo a hierarchal relationship with
Wikipedia just because Wikipedians think Wikisource/books/etc. could
increase their Google rank this way.

Example of a comment that makes me choke indignantly: "It makes sense to
make the other projects subordinate to [Wikipedia], rather than equal."
(Source:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_brand_survey#Would_you_support_or_oppose_rebranding_the_projects_as_.22Wikipedia_Sources.22.2C_.22Wikipedia_Quotes.22.2C_.22Wikipedia_Textbooks.22.2C_and_so_on.3F)

Wikimedia projects *are* equal, whatever their google rank or the attention
they get from journalists.  And I really hope every trustee and trustee
candidate is aware of that.

-- 
Guillaume Paumier
[[m:User:guillom]]
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have
imagined." Henry David Thoreau