Comments on: Does Wikipedia need or want Jimbo Wales? http://joeanderson.co.uk/blog/2008/03/12/does-wikipedia-need-or-want-jimbo-wales/ A blog by a Brit about Web 2.0, the Internet and technology in general. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:19:02 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Cyde Weys http://joeanderson.co.uk/blog/2008/03/12/does-wikipedia-need-or-want-jimbo-wales/comment-page-1/#comment-266970 Cyde Weys Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:19:46 +0000 http://joeanderson.co.uk/blog/2008/03/12/does-wikipedia-need-or-want-jimbo-wales/#comment-266970 No, Wikipedia no longer needs Jimmy Wales. We needed him in the beginning for the funding his company Bomis provided, and before we had the organizational structure all figured out, it did help to have a dictator. But if you look at his participation in the project over this past year, you'll see his influence has rapidly declined. He's stayed pretty aloof, and the few times he did interject himself into a situation ended badly because his solutions and who he took sides with made him come off as ignorant of the day-to-day happenings of Wikipedia. Many administrators are no longer willing to jump on his word. And keep in mind, Jimbo's role of God-king is exclusive to the English Wikipedia. He never had any special power over other projects, and when the Board was formed and he became just one of a number of Board members, he gave up any special power over the Foundation as well. His involvement has been drawing down with the project for some time, likely because of his other business ventures such as Wikia, so it's inevitable that he will eventually lose his title of God-king. The sooner the better, because at this point he may be doing more harm than good. In terms of publicity, perception matters just as much as the truth, and his whole funds scandal looks very negative. Hrmm, there might be enough here to write about to merit my own blog post on the issue ... No, Wikipedia no longer needs Jimmy Wales. We needed him in the beginning for the funding his company Bomis provided, and before we had the organizational structure all figured out, it did help to have a dictator. But if you look at his participation in the project over this past year, you’ll see his influence has rapidly declined. He’s stayed pretty aloof, and the few times he did interject himself into a situation ended badly because his solutions and who he took sides with made him come off as ignorant of the day-to-day happenings of Wikipedia. Many administrators are no longer willing to jump on his word.

And keep in mind, Jimbo’s role of God-king is exclusive to the English Wikipedia. He never had any special power over other projects, and when the Board was formed and he became just one of a number of Board members, he gave up any special power over the Foundation as well. His involvement has been drawing down with the project for some time, likely because of his other business ventures such as Wikia, so it’s inevitable that he will eventually lose his title of God-king. The sooner the better, because at this point he may be doing more harm than good. In terms of publicity, perception matters just as much as the truth, and his whole funds scandal looks very negative.

Hrmm, there might be enough here to write about to merit my own blog post on the issue …

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