Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2018/Candidates/Robert McClenon/Statement

Robert McClenon

I have been an editor of the English Wikipedia since 2005. The areas in which I have been providing volunteer support include content dispute resolution at the dispute resolution noticeboard, draft article review at Articles for Creation, and new page review at New Page Patrol.

The English Wikipedia, with nearly six million articles, is a success story, one of the great success stories of the collaborative use of the Internet to provide convenient access to human knowledge via the Internet. It is essential that the Wikipedia community and the Arbitration Committee preserve and maintain the quality of Wikipedia, primarily against two problems. The first problem, older and more obvious, is troublesome or uncivil editors, who disrupt the electronic workplace, impeding the maintenance of the encyclopedia. The second problem is more recent, the result of Wikipedia’s success and respect, and less obvious and more subtle, and is editors with conflicts of interest. Now that the English Wikipedia has nearly six million articles, maintaining quality is more important than any expansion of the encyclopedia. As an elected member of the ArbCom, I will work with the other arbitrators and the community to preserve the quality of the encyclopedia.

In recent years the ArbCom has heard fewer cases than in earlier years, because many cases are resolved by the community or by Arbitration Enforcement. I think that the ArbCom should follow a middle-ground approach, more than recently but fewer than in the past, as to how many cases to hear, and would suggest a “three-trip rule” under which issues, either content issues or contentious editors, that have already been considered twice by the community and come back a third time are ready for the deliberate quasi-judicial process of arbitration.

I would also suggest that the ArbCom occasionally consider cases of undisclosed paid editing. The duck test may be appropriate; an editor who walks like a paid editor and quacks may be a paid editor. The ArbCom can receive privileged information, avoiding the prohibition against doxing undisclosed paid editors.

An evolving statement can be read at User:Robert McClenon/ArbCom Nov18 Statement.

I understand that arbitrators are highly trusted functionaries who are entrusted with non-public privileged data. I intend to maintain that trust by safeguarding the non-public data. I meet the requirements for trusted functionaries and will sign the agreement to safeguard privileged data.

I have one additional account, User:McClenon Test, which I have used for test purposes, for instance, in order to look at my primary account.

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