[WikiEN-l] Dispute resolution mailing list

[Carcharoth]

If this mailing list is created, I predict an "article rescue" list
will follow shortly. The fact of the matter is that anyone interested
in helping out in dispute resolution already has a vast array of
places to go to and to get involved. Now, if a bot was to mail out a
summary from various places, that might work. But a centralised place
to ask for help is likely to be overwhelmed if it ever becomes
popular, and will be accused of elitism and forum shopping if people
parachute in to help out.

Publicising discussions is tricky. I started a mini-how-to guide on it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Publicising_discussions

The critical bit I think is here:

"Normal discussions do not always need large amounts of input, and a
balance needs to be struck between gaining sufficient input for
consensus, and overwhelming a discussion with too much input."

What I would like to see is examples of the very largest discussions
and polls (e.g. ArbCom elections, polls on Flagged Revisions, the poll
on the Main Page redesign, some of the large naming disputes) to the
the intermediate ones (RfCs, RfAs) to the smallest ones (some dispute
between two people on some obscure page in some forgotten corner of
Wikipedia).

Of course, WP:3O (third opinion) was tailor-made for resolving the
'small' disputes between two people.

But I'd still like to see examples of intermediate-sized discussions,
and what level of participation or publicity is appropriate there. For
example - a banning discussion at ANI - how much attention and of what
sort, does that receive? Compare to a ban proposal handed down in an
ArbCom case. Compare policy-related discussions on ArbCom cases with
discussion on (sometimes poorly-watched) policy pages, and compare
again with discussions on the most widely watched policy talk pages.

As Charles said, this is a complex structure we've built here.

Carcharoth

On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 7:37 PM, stevertigo<stvrtg at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 2:49 PM, Emily Monroe <bluecaliocean at me.com> wrote:
>
>> Just to add my voice in the conversation...
>>
>
> We usually employ the idiom "two cents," but you are right - "voice [to] the
> conversation" is formal and probably translates quite well. "Adding my two
> rupees.." probably doesn't mean anything.
>
> I also don't think it's a good idea to have a mailing list to have
>> dispute resolution to happen.
>>
>
>
>> *About* resolution is another
>> matter--I have no opinion about that.
>>
>
> Think of it like a patch of sky (mailing list) where the eagles (helpers)
> could see things better (overview): They would still have to fly down to
> Earth (wiki) to do their hunting (dispute resolution).
>
> We can also discuss dispute resolution issues in general, though there are
> probably a few yokels who think dispute resolution is perfect and thus
> doesn't need improvement, and thus think discussion about its improvement is
> unnecessary.
>
> If you are already a bit familiar with our DR process(es), you might
> understand there are general issues that need to be dealt with.
>
> Too much can happen.
>
>
> Ah. But could you please clarify what specifically you mean by the terms
> "too much" and "can happen"?
>
>
>> People will be unable or unwilling to join, etc.
>
>
> Well I agree there is a little technical issue here, and this is a criticism
> Ive had of IRC for a long time; that it exposes people's IPs and therefore
> they might not want to participate. Not everyone wants to show their emails.
> But we can set up a way to submit emails to the list through the wiki. A
> "dres-l" user account has just been set up on the wiki. I can set it up to
> forward any messages to the "dres-l" list, I think. IIRC the form masks the
> email address, but shows the username.
>
>
>> I also find it kind of ironic that a discussion about dispute
>> resolution will cause a dispute.
>>
>
> The word is "iconic." Not "ironic." "Ironic" would be if George Takei came
> back from the dead to edit his article, and we banned him for lack of
> reliable sources.
>
> -Stevertigo
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