sendingWe

SendingWe is a conceptual framework in digital communication and collaborative governance that emphasizes collective authorship and responsibility. It describes how groups transmit messages, decisions, or actions as if issued by the group itself rather than a specific individual, often using linguistic cues, metadata, and technical signatures to express shared agency.

Mechanisms commonly associated with SendingWe include multi-party signing, distributed authorship trails, and protocols that bind messages to a group's identity. In practice, a sending event might include the group's name, a set of signatories, and a statement that reflects the group’s shared intent. The approach can be implemented in software via collective approval workflows, cryptographic attestations, or collaborative editorial processes that replace or supplement single-sender messaging.

Applications of SendingWe span open source governance, corporate communications, civic participation, and community moderation. Proponents argue it fosters inclusion, distributes accountability, and reduces single-point bias. Critics warn that it can obscure individual responsibility, complicate accountability, and increase coordination costs.

Examples include release notes authored by a project maintainers’ council, policy announcements issued by a city steering committee, or moderation decisions recorded as the outcome of a community affirmation process. Overall, SendingWe seeks to balance shared agency with clear traceability, while highlighting trade-offs between inclusivity and operational complexity.