User blog comment:Jenburton/An Update on Message Wall/@comment-3388044-20111001062627

Interesting blog posting. Two comments:
 * 1) …comments … were made by just ~300 individuals … We literally have millions of users on Wikia.
 * 2) * Ever heard of sampling? Just because only 300 different users have commented on this new product does not mean that those comments are neither representative of, nor aggregable to, the Wikia population as a whole.
 * 3) * The contention that because more Wikians did not comment, they must represent a silent majority of members happy with the new MessageWall is a specious one. This line of reasoning assumes that other Wikians (a) know that MessageWalls are being rolled out, and (b) know to come here to comment, if they even know Community Central exists.
 * 4) * Thus, there is no reason to discount the comments made by these 300 as merely the too eager postings of a “passionate”, anti-change minority.
 * 5) … once you have a chance to see Message Wall in action and use it, you’ll find that it's a really great addition to your experience on Wikia. [Emphasis added.]
 * 6) * It is not an addition. It is a replacement.
 * 7) * Recall that all it took for us to like the AdminDashboard was to give us back the navigation at the top of the screen.
 * 8) * Similarly, all it would take for us to like the MessageWall would be a similar adjustment:
 * 9) ** Truly make it an addition to our wikis, separate from, and not a replacement for, our talk namespaces.
 * 10) ** Limit MessageWalls to userspace only. Do not roll them out to article/image/template/category talkspaces, ever

Thanks! — Spike Toronto  06:26, October 1, 2011 (UTC)

 UPDATE : See also clarification response below &darr; Thanks!