[WikiEN-l] Re: Arbitration Commitee Seeking Comment

[Michael Snow]

Rebecca wrote:

>On 6/5/05, MacGyverMagic/Mgm <macgyvermagic at gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>That's why I want to breath new life into the Mediation Committee. I
>>think Mediation shouldn't be another step towards banning either party
>>but a genuine effort at resolving the problem.
>>
>>--Mgm
>>    
>>
>The point is that it didn't work before, and there's been no idea of
>how to fix the issue that ruined things before - that none of us are
>trained mediators, and most of us simply did not have the skills to
>bring antagonistic, warring parties together. We'd all like a
>mediation committee that worked, but wishing doesn't necessarily make
>it so.
>  
>
I don't think the problem with mediation is a lack of training or skills 
(no offense, but by and large I wouldn't call the arbitrators 
professionally trained either). Mediation can be handled by anybody with 
good sense, patience, and the ability to resist getting over-agitated by 
the emotions of the disputing parties. We actually have had quite a few 
instances of successful mediation, but many of them have happened 
outside the formal process, often handled by people who are not part of 
the Mediation Committee.

However, I agree that formal mediation is not working terribly well for 
us. One of the biggest challenges for Wikipedia mediation is simply the 
fact that we're stuck in an online, text-only medium. This affects 
mediation more dramatically than the other dispute resolution processes, 
because it takes away a key element of what normally makes mediation 
successful.

One of the reasons mediation works is because it brings the parties 
together, *face-to-face* and with an observer present. This brings into 
play all kinds of social inhibitions that force the parties to tone down 
their hostility and aggression. The resulting atmosphere is much more 
conducive for the mediator and the parties to work together and find a 
mutually acceptable solution.

Wikipedia mediation doesn't have a feasible way to recreate these 
conditions, and I doubt that even real-time communication via IRC can 
overcome this handicap. The lowered barriers against being deliberately 
offensive and the ease of miscommunication when using text are too great 
a challenge. As a result, I think that for us mediation is more likely 
to be useful much earlier in the process, as disputes are only beginning 
and before they have really had a chance to heat up. This would require 
watching more closely for situations where mediation can help, and a 
more interventionist approach from the mediators, rather than waiting 
for cases to come to them.

--Michael Snow