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Back in April of last year, this question was asked: More interesting name for our main chat room?

Unfortunately, nothing has become of the question. As of February 13, 2017, the name of our primary chatroom is still "Ask Ubuntu General Room". This is in spite of the fact that "The Orange Room" has received 22 votes.

So.

My question is this: what must happen before our new room name is put into effect?

Do we need to achieve some sort of quorum? Do the moderators need to have a super secret meeting to confirm the new name? Does somebody need to donate a unicorn? (Yes, I'm kidding on that last one. Sorta.)

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    I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of changing the name. I'm o̶l̶d̶ young and stuck in my ways. One thing that bothers me about the other meta post is the amount of input it got from people I never see in chat. I think, ultimately, only people that regularly use the general room should have final say.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 4:39
  • I suggest to featured-ise that post.
    – Pandya
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 4:40
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    @Pandya I disagree. I'd prefer input from people that actually use the general room.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 4:41
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    My dissenting post has an almost even split of +8/-7, which I think means that there isn't consensus on renaming.
    – muru
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 5:50
  • If we change the name then I'll have to redesign my chat advert. :P
    – user364819
    Commented Feb 21, 2017 at 21:19

1 Answer 1

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Suggestion

Seth pointed out that not everyone who voted in the meta question may be a regular chat visitor, and this may skew the results. Therefore, I would like to propose the following suggestion for alleviating this concern:

  1. A chat room is created, open to all
  2. Users are free to propose new names as chat messages
  3. Users are free to vote for new names via chat stars
  4. After a predetermined amount of time, the name with the most stars is selected

A variant of this might be to take the "top x" starred messages and put them into a Google form or similar for final voting.

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    This idea sounds good. I'd prefer the variant with a proper form though, chat stars are a little too messy for a final say IMO.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 4:40
  • Or, we pin a message to a meta link in the chatroom and people can decide there.
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 7:39
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    I don't think the room's name should be a choice of only the room's regulars. We don't want a clique, that's supposed to be a room open to everyone on the site. So yes, the votes of the community at large are just as important as those of the regulars.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 15:08
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    @terdon it's no clique. Anyone and everyone (with 20 rep) is welcome to use chat. But if you don't use it I don't see why you should tell those who do what to name it. I liken it to going to that bar across the street you never visit and telling them what name they should use. it's not a place you care about or put time into, but it is for them. They have to live with it while you probably won't ever come back. Case in point, 6 users posted answers in the other post that I have never seen in chat. Not to mention the 35 votes the top answer has, when we can barely get 20 people in chat.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 18:35
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    I dunno. I've spent a lot of time in chat over the last 5 years and I'm a little protective of it. I love it when new people come to chat, but if you don't why are you trying to name it for those of us who do.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 18:36
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    @Seth I guess I feel that the room belongs to the community and that includes those who only visit sporadically if at all. We're talking about the main site room, not some random one. If it is a room for the regulars, then it shouldn't be the main room. I know the equivalent poll on U&L had massive (for U&L) community participation, despite the fact that there are only about 6 or so regular chatters. I just feel this is a site-wide issue. If it were only for us regulars, we could just rename it directly if we so desired.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 19:45
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    @terdon I don't want to restrict it to only regulars, just people who actually use it. They don't have to use it all the time or even often. Perhaps you are right though. I dunno.
    – Seth Mod
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 20:47

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