With discussion about mediation going on again, off again, maybe we should
ask ourselves what kind of people we want to do the job, besides Ed who
regularly reminds us that *he* wants to do it. Seeing that I have a
reputation for spreading peace and justice on Wikipedia even among morons
and pathological liars, I think I am well qualified to lay out the
criteria needed for achieving the ultimate WikiHarmony. My initial thought
was to kick out all the Republicans, but I'm not sure if Jimbo would
authorize a vote on that.
So who is qualified to mediate in disputes? I think the following
attributes are crucial:
- mostly refrains from editing controversial articles because they seek
harmony or just want to get work done
- is patient and willing to listen, but also wants to make decisions
- keeps strong personal opinions and beliefs mostly to themselves
- uses clear, non-offensive language (this rules out using a Perl script)
- treats each act of mediation as a new one, i.e. forgives and forgets
Perhaps most importantly, a good mediator is accepted by the entire
community and has Jimbo's stamp of approval on his forehead in biblical
fashion.
Realistically, we probably won't find someone who meets all these
criteria. People have flaws. That's why we won't want to have a single
mediator but a team. But we probably don't want to have people on it who
fail on all or most of these counts (and I do include myself here, because
I consider myself more of a truth seeker than a harmony seeker).
That being said, I think nominations should be public, and should be voted
on, because this is really a matter where community opinion matters. We
don't need consensus, but we need something very roughly like it (85-90%
support). Basically like the Requests for Adminship page.
To get the ball rolling, I support the following people as mediators:
- Ed Poor (obviously). I think he would do a great job in a team. He does
have strong beliefs and participates in controversial articles, but he
mostly comes across as benevolent and understanding.
- Daniel Mayer (Mav). While he can be a bit brusque, he is incredibly
dedicated, pragmatic and gets things done. He would definitely be a
valuable team member.
- Martin Harper (MyRedDice). I personally think he could do the job alone
if given the authority, but he's a bit too bold in editing to have *that*
much support. I do think he is very impartial and goal-oriented, and even
if you disagree with some of the things he does, he should be involved in
the mediation process.
- Vicki Rosenzweig. She declined one of my requests for mediation because
she thought she was too partial and the subject too complex, if I remember
correctly. Being able to reflect on your own involvement is really healthy
and important, and she could prevent the team from becoming too cocky (no
pun intended).
- The Cunctator - ha, ha, just kidding.
The mediation team should, in my opinion, be allowed to make *binding*
decisions by consensus, and recommendations to Jimbo by majority vote.
This includes most of the decisions Jimbo usually makes that relate to the
enforcement of Wikipedia policy through bans, warnings etc. But of course
they should try to avoid using these measures when possible. The team
should be large enough so that some members are always available within a
span of 3 or 4 days.
They could use a closed mailing list, mediation-l, where non-members can
only post but not read. Their decisions would be posted on the appropriate
talk page. Team members personally involved in a debate should recuse
themselves for obvious reasons. Conflicts within the mediation team (e.g.
"Person <x> makes consensus decisions impossible") should be resolved
mostly internally, with Jimbo's help, and taken public if necessary.
So there you have it -- an actual plan that can be implemented within
days. All it needs is some kind of official go-ahead, and we can start
voting/discussing who we want to put in those seats. I wonder if anyone
actually reads my mails this far or if I could just write gibberish at
this point. The quick brown fox jumped over the yellow chicken and caused
a warp core breach in the process.
Cordially,
Erik the Red