The headline became a bit more catchy than it ought to have been - it should rather have been "Who are 'we'?", as it is a question of correct language rather than of actual identity, I want to touch upon. But the headline still reflects the almost existential doubt that caused it in the first place.
I think most people have experienced it: standing in a situation where someone presents a message to them, repeatedly using the word "we" in the flow of words.
And then the uncomfortable doubt rises: who are "we" after all?
Could it be everyone assembled?
Could it - as it is often heard in a work context - be the entire company? the entire department? the entire company and its partners? Or maybe just the person talking and the person listening? Not to mention the really uncomfortable situations where the listener has to ask herself the question "Who are 'you'?" - because the listener does not feel included in the "we" at all.
Some might find that if people can ask this type of question, it is because they do not get the big picture. But communication problems should be resolved just as must by adjustments in the speaker as by adjustments in the listener.
(Translated from Hvem er vi?, originally published February 13, 2014)
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