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FamilySearch Wiki talk:Consensus: Difference between revisions
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::Style, though, is another issue. We've learned to be democratic with that. I think we're even learning to post and invite the community to stylistic discussions suggested by this or that user long ago -- often in Community Meeting. And we've made it easy for users to champion their own stylistic causes in the Manual of Style talk pages. | ::Style, though, is another issue. We've learned to be democratic with that. I think we're even learning to post and invite the community to stylistic discussions suggested by this or that user long ago -- often in Community Meeting. And we've made it easy for users to champion their own stylistic causes in the Manual of Style talk pages. | ||
:When I hear of a need for a "governing board" on the wiki, it gives me pause. I thought that's what discussion pages were for -- and that the governing body would be anyone who wants to participate in those discussions. I don't like oligarchies or star chambers. I know that's not what you're suggesting, but I guess I need a better understanding of what you are suggesting. And all this may sound disingenuous coming from a founder of this site that has a lot of influence, but I seriously lean toward true democracy rather than representative democracy or oligarchy. I guess I just saw too many abuses of power while spending the first 24 years of my life on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. In the last month alone, I've probably said 20 times to my colleagues or prominent wiki users "Hey, we should be having this discussion on the wiki" -- meaning we were having some policy, usability, or style discussion in a board room or via e-mail or phone which would be a lot more idea-rich, democratized, consensus-driving, and actionable if we had it on a wiki discussion page instead of in a small, closed group. The idea of a "governing board" gives a feeling of closed-ness from which I think we should be moving away. [[User:Ritcheymt|Ritcheymt]] 04:04, 15 June 2009 (UTC) | |||
::OK, I guess I need to redefine what I mean by governing board. And perhaps it goes back to what you, Michael, are calling "engineering" decisions. I have no problem with discussing what should go into the Wiki, or even how it looks, or how many illustrations, or what the topics should be on a page, or what those topics whould be. But if someone wants to make changes or decisions that would impact how the system works, then that seems to me to go beyond the community concept and into having someone having to ssy, "That change will affect the system's operation in this way." Who has that responsibility now, and who should have it in the future? | |||
::I have no problem having an open discussion on the discussion page to try to reach agreement on what goes on the page, or how it is presented. But what happens if concensus cannot be reached? I think I know the answer, but I'd like to hear your ideas on that, for this discussion page's sake. | |||
::I'm also not suggesting that we shouldn't push back, even against our engineers or techies that say something can't be done, in terms of how the system works or how it looks. I have found that if enough people want something bad enough, a way can usually be found to do it. | |||
::I'm not sure this is making any sense tonight. Maybe I needed to wait until a new day, but these are at least some initial thoughts.[[User:Jbparker|Jbparker]] 05:35, 15 June 2009 (UTC) | |||
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