Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 16:10, 20 October 2005

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For an introduction to mediation, see Misplaced Pages:Mediation

The Misplaced Pages mediation committee was set up in January 2004 to assist in resolving disputes between users. It is part of the dispute resolution process on Misplaced Pages.

If mediation fails, the dispute will normally be referred to the Arbitration Committee for binding resolution. The role of the mediation committee is explicitly to try to resolve disputes to the mutual satisfaction of all, and not simply a first step towards banning or for vetting candidates for the Arbitration Committee to ban. Mediation is instead an honest attempt to resolve the problem. The parties in dispute should understand that any concerns they have will be given a fair hearing.

The specific ways in which this committee serves the community is continuously developing, as the work proceeds and the needs of the community change.

Members of the mediation committee

 For details on each member and for mediators emeriti, see here.

1. Mdann52 (talk · contribs · email)
2. Sunray (talk · contribs · email)
3. The Wordsmith (talk · contribs · email)
4. TransporterMan (talk · contribs · email)

   ↳ Chairperson: Sept 2014 – current.

5. WGFinley (talk · contribs · email)

   ↳ Not actively mediating.

6. Guanaco (talk · contribs · email)

Active but temporarily away

1. Keilana (talk · contribs · email)

Inactive

• Angela - beesley AT gmail.com - (not currently taking on long cases. Willing to do short term mediations on IRC).
• Anthere - anthere9 AT yahoo.com - unlikely to have time to mediate while on the board, but still interested of course.
• Bcorr - Bcorr AT umich dot edu
• ClockworkSoul - clockworksoul AT optonline D0T net
• Dante Alighieri dalighieri "at" digitalgrapefruit "dot" com - on sabbatical as of Nov 16, 2004
• Danny 20:53, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC) - daniwo50 AT aol DOT com
• Ed Poor - On WikiBreak
• JCarriker - on exteded leave for time being.
• Jwrosenzweig - my username (which appears to the left) @yahoo.com - making sense of his own life before he tries to mediate the lives of others
• MacGyverMagic - (chairman, scheduling issues prevent me from handling cases at an effective speed as of September 2005. Still available for reform discussions).
• Sam Korn until at least 30 October.
• Stevertigo - Email (declared himself on indefinite break)
• TUF-KAT - tucci528 AT yahoo.com

Former members

• Alex756 - Left Misplaced Pages
• Ambi - elected to the Arbitration Committee in December 2004
• Cimon 08:03, Jun 9, 2005 (UTC) - resigned
• Grunt - elected to the Arbitration Committee in December 2004
• Ldan - Left Misplaced Pages
• llywrch - Geoff Burling - llywrch AT agora.rdrop.com - resigned
• moink - resigned
• Neutrality - elected to the Arbitration Committee in December 2004
• sannse - elected to the Arbitration Committee in December 2004
• Vancouverguy - Left Misplaced Pages

The first "Wikiquette committee" members were appointed by Jimbo Wales in December 2003. VancouverGuy was also appointed, and Alex756 agreed to be the committee's advisor, but both later left Misplaced Pages, Alex756 temporarily. Ldan has likewise been inactive on Misplaced Pages.

Who is the chair?

User:MacGyverMagic is the elected chairman, but as of September his education is preventing him from keeping up with WP:RFM. Redwolf24 has offered to chair in his absence .

The role of the chair, or co-chair, is one of coordination and facilitation, not of supervision. The role does not imply hierarchy or authority within the committee but allows a sufficient degree of formality so that we have a way of saying "Here's the outcome of the mediation". Appointment to the chair position is rotating every few months. Any member of the committee can apply to be co-chair, and will have to be approved by the other members.

All mediators can participate in any committee-related tasks, not only the chairs. Mediators are independent in their choice of whose case to mediate, and how to mediate. Typical roles of the chairs include ensuring that mediators are trained and standards upheld, that mediation requests are answered and that everyone is consulted on important decisions. They may also act as spokesperson for the committee for formal announcements (for example, to announce the failure of a major mediation and the transfer of the case to arbitration).

Former chairs have been Jwrosenzweig, Bcorr, Danny, TUF-KAT and sannse.

How does one become a member of the committee?

1. Read through the Misplaced Pages:Mediation pages and familiarize yourself with the procedure of mediation to see if it is something you would like to do.
2. Add your name in the nominations section below, at the bottom please.
3. There is no strict voting procedure, but other users may comment on the nomination if they wish.
4. A user shall become a mediator after an unspecified period of time as long as there is no opposition from the Mediation Committee, no veto from Jimbo, and general agreement from the community.

Once accepted, the mediator is welcome to join the mediation mailing list.

Nominations for mediator

Old nominations are archived at Misplaced Pages:Mediation Committee/Old nominations.

RN

RN (talk · contribs · count) "The basic philosophy of Misplaced Pages is to reach a consensus in decision-making" and I believe I excel in this. In the past, I have rewritten many contentious pages with POV, sometimes collaborating with other editors, sometimes not - some of these editors came to wikipedia to push a particular POV - and I've even been able to turn one or two of them into editors who eventually respected a NPOV. I also believe I am especially good at working out comprimises between people. Ryan Norton 04:30, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Mediation committee:

• Strong Support, but I won't promote this candidate until the Improv discussion. Redwolf24 (talk—How's my driving?) 05:02, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
• Support. -- Essjay · Talk 04:19, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Outside opinions:

• Support From one Ryan to another. Acetic' 05:21, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose. I am very concerned about this editor's behavior in relation to User:Tony Sidaway (see, e.g. ) and with regard to deletion policy discussions generally. Tony's a respected editor on Misplaced Pages and does not deserve to be called a "troll"; this is not the sort of conduct I expect of members of the MedCom. Kelly Martin 11:55, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
  • Yes, well I "duked" it out with him at User_talk:Tony_Sidaway#AGF and I think we resolved our differences amicably (better then I thought). I did correct myself less then an hour later though - mostly due to frustration/burnout. I will discuss further or withdraw if you are still concerned. Ryan Norton 12:02, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
    • May I suggest that, if you are experiencing "frustration" or "burnout", joining MedCom may not be the best of ideas at this time? A "slip" like that in the middle of a mediation will kill the mediation and has major potential to make the situation at hand worse than it was to begin with. So, yes, I am still concerned. Kelly Martin 12:25, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
  • Hmmm. I try hard to maintain a good demeanor here, and it is somewhat of a social experiment for me, so I was rather dissapointed with myself too. I'll sleep on this and decide later :) - thanks for your input Kelly. I've encouraged Tony to give his opinion too. Ryan Norton 12:44, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose. I'd no idea who Ryan was until I noticed that he was calling me a troll. I checked back and noticed that he'd modified his wording, thanked him for doing so, and said if he had any issues perhaps he'd like to direct them to me personally . Hmm, well what ensued was not the most diplomatic of discourses. . Now I can handle disagreements and personal differences, but here there was a definite feeling of someone who lacked the requisite empathy to get along. In response to my polite request, couched in an undefensive way, that he bring his issues directly to me, he came and gave me this: When someone points out that they think you're a troll, for example, why not simply ask "why do think I'm a troll?". and when they give an answer, try to improve from that rather then a page-long dissertation on what a troll is and why you think you are not one. This was patronising, offensive and of course completely useless advice since I'd done nothing of the sort. Ryan also seemed to lack the necessary perspective to realise that there could be more than one point of view. He seemed genuinely surprised at the end of our dialog, as if the thought that I might have good faith reasons for taking certain actions was a very novel one. I've no doubt that he's a fine editor and wields a mean mop, but he doesn't seem to have much clue when it comes to dealing with people. This is of course something he can work on, but in my opinion he isn't yet ready. --Tony Sidaway 12:56, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Comments:

• I can refile after the discussions if you guys want.... :) Ryan Norton 05:33, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Some external mediation organizations

• The Association for Conflict Resolution
• US Dept. of Agriculture Mediation Program
• National Association for Community Mediation
• New York State Dispute Resolution Association
• Conflict Resolution Network Canada
• Mediate.com
• Online Journal of Peace & Conflict Resolution

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Arbitration Committee
• Misplaced Pages:Requests for mediation
• Association of Members' Advocates
• Misplaced Pages:Mediation Cabal