The MicroWiki Influence Survey is a survey used to rank MicroWiki nations by influence. Created by Tom Turner, the survey has been conducted nineteen times and is at present the only independent ranking system of micronations in the MicroWiki community. Originally intended as a list to determine which micronations were "micronational superpowers" with only OAM member states voting, it soon grew to encompass the entire MicroWiki Sector with numerous micronationalists taking part. Known as the OAM Influence Survey during the first four surveys, it was renamed the MicroWiki Influence Survey prior to the start of the fifth. While the first three surveys were deemed relatively accurate by the vast majority of the MicroWiki community, the fourth and fifth surveys received criticism due to the discovery of plans to stack votes for political reasons by some nations, and the large number of self-promoting votes in both. A hiatus of a few months after the fifth survey ended when the survey was revived by HIM Tsar Kuri I, Quentin I of Wyvern, and Riley Small in January 2012. The current team that organizes the Survey is made of Kuri Kabanov, Ciprian of Juclandia and Tom Turner. The MicroWiki Influence Survey was inactive ever since 2012 and there hasn't been an official one every since. A community member named Edward I has decided to bring back the surveys to see what nations in the Modern Era have influenced new or old nations. Since then, it has been brought back a number of times by various different people.
Scoring
Voters in the survey vote by creating an ordered list of the 25 nations in the MicroWiki community they believe are the most influential. Points are awarded whereby 1st place equals 25 points, 2nd place equals 24 points, continuing to 25th place equalling 1 point. No points are given to nations not mentioned on a list. All points are added together to create a final score and a listing in the table. Preliminary listings known as Midway Tables are released approximately halfway through the voting while the release of a Final Table concludes each survey, after which some discussion usually takes place regarding the results.
In the tables, ▲ indicates an rise in ranking, shows a steady rank while ▼ indicates a fall in ranking. The number in brackets represents the number of ranks the nation has moved relative to the ranking preceding it.
History
Thirteen surveys have been conducted so far, with the first three surveys being conducted by Turner, the fourth survey by Joe Foxon, the fifth by both Turner and Barnaby Hands, the sixth by HIM Tsar Kuri I, Quentin I of Wyvern, and Riley Small, and the seventh and eighth by Kuri. The first survey was conducted in early October 2010, with the Midway Table being released on 4 October and a final listing being released on 16 October. The second survey was done in the first half of January 2011 with the Midway Table being released on 3 January and the Final Table being released on 11 January while the third survey was conducted in early March with the Midway Table being released on 11 March and the Final Table on 15 March. The fourth survey was conducted in May by Foxon with the Midway Table being released on 19 May and the Final Table on 24 May. The fifth survey was conducted during July 2011 with the Midway Table being released on 8 July and the Final Table on 14 July. The Sixth Survey was conducted during January 2012, the Seventh Survey during February 2012, the Eighth Survey during March 2012, the Ninth Survey during May 2012, the Tenth Survey during July 2012, the Eleventh Survey during September 2012, the Twelfth Survey during November 2012.
Predictions
Since the first survey, it has become customary for micronationalists to post their predictions of who the finalists will be. Most members of the OAM at the time correctly predicted St.Charlie and A1 would top the first survey, and many also thought Egtavia would come third. The second and third surveys have been less predictable. The introduction of result predictions has increased interest in the rankings. An increased number of micronationalists released their predictions for the second and third surveys with varying degrees of accuracy. Following the release of the respective Midway Tables, many voters predicted further changes of the rankings of individual nations with the release of the Final Table.
First Survey
The First OAM Influence Survey was conducted on the OAM Forums and hosted by Tom Turner. It was originally planned to be conducted using BallotBin but complications led to forum posts and PMs being accepted as votes instead. The Midway Table was released on 4 October 2010, and the Final Table on 16 October with thirteen people voting in total. A list of thirty-two micronations in alphabetical order was provided by Tom to assist participants in voting two days before the final listing:
- Atlantis, Austenasia, BlueSkies, Bokonton, Danesland, Egtavia, Francisville, Flandrensis, Gishabrun, Landashir, Los Bay Petros, MGPR A1, Optima, Patetopia, Petorio, PrSR, Qootärlænt, Renasia, Rukora, Salania, Secundomia, Slinky Empyre, St Charlie, USLSSR, Victoria, People's Proper Republic of Wellington, Wyke, Wyvern, Yabloko, Zealandia and Zona.
Second Survey
Conducted on the new MicroWiki forums, the Second OAM Influence Survey was open to all MicroWiki micronationalists. The Midway Table was released on 2 January 2011, with the Final Table being released on January 11 with eighteen people voting. A list of thirty-two micronations in alphabetical order was provided by Tom to assist participants in voting two days before the final listing:
- Arkel, Ashoka, Atlantis, Austenasia, BlueSkies, Dallingrad, Danesland, Dorzhabad, Egtavia, Erephisia, Flandrensis, FRA1, Garagstan, Gishabrun, Juclandia, Kozuc, Landashir, Los Bay Petros, Nemkhavia, Optima, Qootärlænt, Rajputistan, Rukora, Samana Cay, Sandus, Secundomia, Senya, Sirocco, St Charlie, Uberstadt, Ultamiya, USLSSR, People's Proper Republic of Wellington, Wyke, Wyvern, Yabloko, Zealandia and Zona.
Third Survey
The Third OAM Influence Survey was also conducted on the MicroWiki Forum and was open to all micronationalists within the Sector. The Midway Table was released on March 11, 2011, with the Final Table being released on March 15. The third survey proved to be the most widely contested one with Turner saying "I can say now that for once, the top spot is actually open, probably between Rukora, St Charlie, Egtavia and Yabloko" with Yabloko eventually topping both tables. A list of thirty micronations in alphabetical order was provided on the eleventh with the list being made from micronations that had been voted in the Midway Table.
- A1, Austenasia, BlueSkies, Dallingrad, Danesland, Dranoria, Dorzhabad, Egtavia, Erephisia, Flandrensis, Gishabrun, Juclandia, Kozuc Khanate, Landashir, Los Bay Petros, Qootarlaent, Rukora, Sandus, Secundomia, Sirocco, St Charlie, Tiana, Ultamiya, USLSSR, Westland, Wyke, Wyvern, Yabloko, Zealandia and Zona.
Midway Table
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Final Table
Four nations scored between 26 and 56 points but were not included on the table:
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Fourth Survey
The Fourth OAM Influence Survey was on the MicroWiki Forums, but was conducted by Joe Foxon. The Midway Table was released on May 19, 2011, containing all 39 point scoring nations, and the final table was released on May 24, containing all 42 point scoring nations. The results of the fourth survey were marred by the discovery of plans to stack votes and saw the boycotting of the survey by multiple countries and the wide dismissal of accuracy in the results by many such members.
Midway Table
Fourteen other nations were listed in the Midway Table: Los Bay Petros, Arkel, DaeZig, Draconia, Qootärlænt, Vedistan, Republic of Wyke, Starland, Überstadt, Bokonton, Emerald Isle, Istoria, Wilcsland and Broughtopia.
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Final Table
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Fifth Survey
The Fifth MicroWiki Influence Survey was again held on the MicroWiki forums. This survey also saw the renaming of the survey: the inclusion of "MicroWiki" in the name instead of "OAM", a result of the expansion of the survey to rank the whole MicroWiki community. Conducted by Tom Turner and Barnaby Hands, the Midway table was released on 8 July 2011, by Barnaby Hands and the Final table was released on 14 July by Tom Turner. Like the fourth survey, the fifth was criticised by some nations after several votes considered self-promoting were entered after the release of the midway table. Especially strong criticism came from Yabloko and Sirocco, both of which fared badly; Turner was pressured into apologising for the results, despite many micronationalists reassuring him that they thought them accurate, influence being subjective. The controversy surrounding this survey resulted in the next one being delayed for several months, with some suggesting that it may be the last one to ever be held.
Sixth Survey
After the disgrace of the Fifth Influence Survey, similar surveys were not held for many months. On 30 December 2011, HIM Tsar Kuri I of Gishabrun, Quentin I of Wyvern, and Riley Small of Kozuc restarted the survey and became its 3 judges. They added another rule to prevent fraudulent voting; That is, to allow only the top 15 nations of the previous survey to place in the top 10 of the next survey. This revival has received some criticism, but has also received some praise.
Seventh Survey
This survey was slightly delayed due to HIM Tsar Kuri I's vacation to Cuba, but was held nonetheless in a similar manner as the others, on the MicroWiki Forum. In this survey, the "Top 10" Rule of the previous survey was changed, due to popular demand, to a "Top 5 Rule" - that is, only those in the top 15 of the Sixth Survey could be in the top 5 of the Seventh. An exception to this rule, agreed upon by the committee, was Technocratic Renasia. The Midway Table was released on 12 February 2012, and the Final Table was released on the 15th. Several changes were seen in this survey: a second Carshalton Sector nation (by virtue of its constituent country of Orly), the United Kingdom of New Wessex, appeared for the first time; Ultamiya, the leader of which had left the Forums the previous month, shot down to the bottom of the table, and Dorzhabad (UDR) finally lost its place on the table. These effects would carry over to the Eighth Survey and partly into the Ninth.
Eighth Survey
This survey took place in March 2012. Again, some major changes from previous surveys were felt: For the first time, nations that joined MicroWiki in 2011 made pride of place in the survey, ousting such consistent rankers as Ultamiya, who had already taken a massive hit, and the Zonian Confederacy.
Ninth Survey
This survey took place in May 2012. A couple new nations not seen on the last survey appeared here, such as Havnesgade-Amager, the Saxon Empire, and Ultamiya, which regained its place after its return to the forums in March.
Tenth Survey
This survey took place in July 2012, with the midway table being released on the 10th and the final table on the 15th of the month. A significant change was made during the Survey, in which the Influence Survey Committee replaced Quentin and Riley Small with Billy Neil and Lucas Campos, although the latter resigned due to the stress created by the committee. It was marked by a low turnout.
Eleventh Survey
This survey took place in September 2012, with the midway table being released on the 7th of the month. The final results came in on the 10th of September. The 11th survey had a record turnout since the survey's revival, with 17 participants in the voting, and saw the first time that St.Charlie was knocked off the top spot (albeit only in the Midway Table) since March 2011.
Twelth Survey
This survey took place in November 2012, with the midway table being released on the 7th of the month. The final results came in on the 17th of November, with the Empire of Austenasia gaining St.Charlie's long held first place on the final results.
Thirteenth Survey
This survey took place on 23 January 2016, three years after the last one.
Fourteenth Survey
The Fourteenth Survey took place on 26 April 2016:
Fifteenth Survey
The Fifteenth Survey took place on 25 July 2016:
Sixteenth Survey
The Sixteenth Survey took place on 30 April 2017. It was the first time since the Twelfth Survey where Austenasia was not ranked number 1.
Seventeenth Survey
The Seventeenth Survey took place on 3 March 2018:
Eighteenth Survey
Nineteenth Survey
The 19th MicroWiki Influence Survey was conducted between 28 December 2019 to 11 January 2020. It was hosted by Ashley Jaax, Jayden Lycon, Zabëlle Skye, Simon Reeve and Nicholas Randouler.
Twentieth Survey
The Twentieth Survey, originally set to be undertaken by Statistic-Dime, was terminated following backlash.