Volunteer Third Party Mediators?

Alrighty folks, in the intrest of fairness and for the love of SL humanity, here's an idea from a fairly open-minded third party observer.

All this "government" -vs- "self-government" -vs- "no government" -vs- "LL government"'s gettin a little crazy.

We all agree that there are and always will be disputes. We would all like them to be fairly resolved. We don't know how or who to turn to to get this done.

Maybe we can get some volunteers who could take an objective third view and give recommendations.

The idea behind this is to give, let's say, 2 disputing individuals a place to meet with a third person/s to look at both of thier sides and give them sound advice for them to come to a mutually benificial resolution. (I've tried to do this on a number of occasions, one resulting in a thread getting lock while I thought I was makin progress )

This is harder then one would think for sure. It will rest on the volunteers and the SL citizens faith that they are recieving advice from someone who will remain unbiased and is truely trying to help all involved, not just them.

Volunteers:

- These should be individuals well versed in SL rules and reg, nuences, and the ins and outs of SL life and interaction.
- These people shall have NO political power whatsoever!!!
- They are here, for free, volunteering to make a better, more peaceful and enjoyable experience.

Before we get the "who the hell are you to say..." this position is 100% voluntary and the suggestions are just that, suggestion, from third to one and two.

This means that the two parties involved must BOTH be willing and looking for resolution to thier disputes.

Don't think of them as Judges, they sure as hell are not, more like "wise men and women" who genuinely wish to help thier fellow SLers find the peace and harmony we all desire.

Let's also remember that this is a privately owned establishment, I think, and to the best of my knowledge the only true law here is Linden law. (believe it or not if we don't like it, we can leave, yes?)

If someone steps up to the plate I honestly believe this kind of mediation could really help a lot of the disputes that arise in here.

No elections, no money, no power, just others helping others, is this not what you all are looking for?

I guess my biggest concern is this; what if the losing person isn't happy with the outcome? I would imagine this may happen a fair % of the time.

I am happy with the options we already have; banning from one's land, muting, abuse reporting. If you can't get past it with these tools at hand, maybe it's time to re-evaluate whether or not one should be participating in a social, online setting.

Excellent point Nolan, as always Do I smell a volunteer?

I totally agree with you bro. But even with these things in place we still have problems. This little trick will only work on mature adults see. The reason I came up with the idea is even the whole bannishment neg rating thing can get outta control.

Maybe this would only serve to help an individual basically "prove" thier willingness to comitt to a resolution. Yes the other party can say "I'm not going", this could possibly, at the very least help to show how is maybe the more mature of the two and who's working towards finding a solution, and who would rather be part of the problem.

We plan to offer a mediation service out of our city for those who aren't citizens as soon as the system is finalized at the end of next month. Unlike other commercial ventures it will have a well-defined judicial infrastructure and published policies to support it. It would entitle one to a hearing with a group of mediators or a jury of randomly selected peers. It will be a free service to citizens of Neualtenburg.

~Ulrika~