On 7/12/05, Phil Sandifer sandifer@sbcglobal.net wrote:
Hot on the heels of my comments about the RfC procedure, I've created [[Wikipedia:Wikimediation]], which I think will work much like I want RfC to work, without leading to agonizing debates over whether to change something. Basically, it's an opportunity for communal mediation, where people can leave constructive comments on how disputes and behavior might be handled better and more productively.
Phil, I think this is a great idea. Thanks for setting it up.
I have a question. You wrote on the page that it's not intended as a dry run for an RfC or arbitration, because it's intended to be non-confrontational. However, if someone were to take a case through Wikimediation, do you envisage that it could be cited as part of the dispute-resolution process to allow a case to proceed before the arbcom? Or is your preference that the two be kept entirely separate?
The reason I ask is that I'm currently dealing with an editor who's in the habit of launching personal attacks. I'm considering approaching the arbcom, and so I have to begin dispute resolution. I really dislike the RfC process because it becomes so vitriolic, and so I'm thinking about writing it up for Wikimediation instead. However, one of my aims in doing so would be to fulfill the arbcom requirement of having tried alternative means of resolving the issue.
Would you see that as an inappropriate use of Wikimediation?
Sarah