[Foundation-l] Wikimedia brand survey open

[Ray Saintonge]

Anthony wrote:

>On 5/31/07, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>  
>
>>On 5/31/07, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Has it been decided whether or not the individual projects have any say in
>>>      
>>>
>>>determining their own names, or whether the foundation will impose a name
>>>      
>>>
>>>upon them from the top down, or is this still up for debate?
>>>      
>>>
>>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 sounds like an effective divide and conquer strategy.  A person who 
is determined to effect these changes would likely have an easier time 
doing it that way than by trying to develop a consensus across all the 
projects at once.

I very much support the operational autonomy of projects, but this is 
not an operational matter; it's a question of identity.  To draw a 
parallel with the United States, would it be acceptable if State X 
insisted on calling itself the "Confederate State of X"?  Even an 
overwhelming popular vote in the state for that would not find 
acceptance in a wider community.

Ec