[Foundation-l] Wikimedia Brand Survey Analysis

[Brion Vibber]

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Anthony wrote:
> So, the assertion is that it's OK to get something for Wikipedia, and
> then use it for another project, because people who contribute to that
> other project think they're contributing to Wikipedia anyway, and
> because people who contribute to Wikipedia are unaware of the other
> projects?

That might make sense if we were to pretend that there's some kind of
magic wall between
"some-project-that-is-just-an-encyclopedia-and-nothing-else-ever" and
"everything-else-that-we-do".

However, I don't think that wall really exists.

When people in general talk about what "Wikipedia" does or what they
want "Wikipedia" to do or how they want to support "Wikipedia", they're
nearly always referring to what we, the super-elite involved people,
would call "Wikimedia".

To the rest of the world, Wikimedia *is* "Wikipedia" -- Commons,
Wikinews, Wiktionary, etc are other things that "Wikipedia" does. There
are still other things that many people would like "Wikipedia" to do in
addition to those existing projects. People would like to see even more
work done by "Wikipedia", not less.


This isn't because people don't know about other projects -- it's
because the "Wikipedia" name is so well-known and well-entrenched
already that when they do hear about them, "Wikipedia" is the name
they're going to be able to remember to attach them to.


Whether that's what we _want_ or not, this is very much my experience to
date, and it seems foolish to me to pretend that it isn't so. The
"Wikipedia" name is much, much more valuable in both public and private
communications than the "Wikimedia" name because of its established
reputation and recognition.

- -- brion vibber (brion @ wikimedia.org)
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