[Foundation-l] Rethinking brands

[Walter Vermeir]

Erik Moeller schreef:
>> Currently, many
>> projects are trying (and not rarely succeeding) to get their own
>> identity, with their own plans and functions. By renaming them to
>> "Wikipedia something", we would be telling them that that is not the
>> way we want to go.
> 
> I understand the emotional reasons for projects to have their "own
> identity," rather than being directly associated with Wikipedia
> through their name. What are the rational ones?

There is no need for rational reasons. The emotional are enough. The way
things have grown have created a whole group of virtual communities with
there own structures.

At lowest level you have the wiki. A community with large local autonomy
and there own view about how to carry out the core objects of there project.

The closest friends of a wiki are the sister projects in the same language.

The wikis of the same project in other languages are collages. The do
the same work and have the same objectives but are on an other team.
There is some exchange and cross-wiki cooperation but it remains other
wikis, other communities.

Wikimedia is the grant umbrella that connects all wikis of all projects
and languages. It is the glue between all wikis.

Every wiki is proud of there own work. Wikipedians feel offended when
media refers to "Wikipedia" when the mean a specific language Wikipedia,
usually the English language Wikipedia. I believe that most people from
every wiki have the same feeling about there own wiki.

Knocking down this structure could be catastrophic for the communities
of the WMF wikis.

-- 
Contact: walter AT wikizine DOT org
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