[WikiEN-l] extremely weak dispute resolution mechanisms

[Grease Monkee]

On 11/17/05, JAY JG <jayjg at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> I will simply re-iterate that there are far more seriously damaging and
> "poisonous" things happening on Wikipedia, and they are related to
> extremely
> weak dispute resolution mechanisms.
>
> Jay.
>
>
This is so true, Jay. We squander huge amounts of time and energy dealing
with disputes. Do you have any suggestions to improve our dispute resolution
mechanisms?

Ok, here is my suggestion. This is a stratagy for dealing with disruptive
editors who might turn into good contributers if treated right.

First, a simple example;
1) Newbi is a disruptive moron, HardAss(admin) gives him simple clear
instructions on how not to be disruptive moron, once.
2) Newbi replies to HardAss(admin); "Fuck You", and continues to disrupt.
3) HardAss blocks Newbi and gives another short, clear lecture on how to
behave
4) Newbi replies by spitting venom and calling for justice over his violated
civil rights.
5) Cycle repeats, escalating each time in the tone of rhetoric and length of
blocks.
6) Along comes NiceGuy(admin) who sticks up for Newbi, telling him
"..listen, I will unblock you, but you gotta do x,y and z..." Thereby
supplying a face saving mechanism for Newbi.
7) Newbi either starts to behave, or gets blocked for longer and longer
periods

The most common mistake made implementing this strategy is that NiceGuy is
overly critical of HardAss, not realising that his mentorship of Newbi won't
work without the threat of HardAss looming. Likewise, HardAss often takes it
personally when NiceGuy unblocks someone, not realising it as a face saving
feature that allows Newbi to behave.

Variation- If Newbi(moron) fails to respond to the first NiceGuy, then both
admins proceed to wail on him with a clue stick, until HiceGuy2 comes along
:|| (repeat as needed).

Some of the nice things about this strategy are;
*Self checking (admins constantly are reviewing each other during
implementation)
*If done right, Newbi receives repeated, clear instruction on behavior,
backed up with blocks
*The more idiotic the Newbi, the more effective this strategy
*There is room for lots of different authoritarian/mentorship roles here
*It can really be fun when done right

see also;  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_cop_bad_cop

Happy Thanksgiving!