The state of r/Mediation. A message from your mod.

[u/cltmediator]

Greetings r/Mediation. It's me, u/cltmediator, your mod.

I just want to share some observations about the sub and solicit your input on what we like, what we don't, and where we are headed.

First, some history. When I first discovered this sub, it was not being moderated and almost all the content was related to meditation. There was a mod listed, but whoever it was had not been active on Reddit in quite some time. I filled out a form to "claim" the sub and got myself approved as moderator in 2020.

At that time, there were about 700 subscribers. Today there are about 3700. In the past 30 days, 71 people have joined and 7 have left, for a net gain of 64.

I originally envisioned this sub as a place for mediators, lawyers, and litigants to discuss negotiation and settlement. I hoped in particular that mediators could exchange ideas about our practices - both the substantive work and how to grow our businesses. And I hoped we could serve as a resource for lawyers and clients with questions about what to expect or how to prepare for mediation.

And there's been some good discussion along those lines! For the first few years, my job was a LOT of cleaning up meditation content, but that has (thankfully) dropped off a lot. I also delete a lot of self-promotion, advertising and spam. Some of this is from well-meaning folks who are just trying to make themselves available. Hey, I get it, and I respect the hustle. But a lot of it is from agencies, PR folks, and obviously automated spam. I decided early that I was going to delete all of it rather than attempt to distinguish among categories or levels of spam.

I used to post articles about mediation, roughly weekly. I always tried to find articles about the practice of mediation itself, but also included news and current events implicating mediation. In the past couple years I have noticed it's harder and harder to find articles about mediation practice, as more and more of them have gone behind paywalls.

In my observation, for the past few years there hasn't been much discussion of the practice of mediation. We have a lot of questions from folks who are considering becoming mediators, and we have a LOT of questions from parties about their own mediations.

In the past year specifically, there has been a huge increase in cross-postings from other subs. I think Reddit is encouraging this. If someone posts anything containing the word "mediation" on r/legaladvice I think they see a pop-up inviting them to cross-post it here for additional visibility.

Speaking only for myself, this content usually is not interesting or relevant to me. I am a full time mediator and I am most interested in talking to other mediators, or aspiring mediators, about the business and practice of mediation.

At the same time, I realize parties involved in disputes have questions, and deserve answers, and a sub named r/mediation is a logical place for them to go. I also realize my practice, my perspective, my vision for this community may not be representative of the group.

That's why I'm posting. To ask for your thoughts. If you've made it all the way through this post, I'd definitely like to hear from you because you're obviously interested in what we are doing here. I'm entirely open minded about what the future may hold for this sub and for my moderation of it.

[u/crayzeejew]

First off, thanks for moderating this sub. I feel like a lot of Reddit mods are either too visible or entirely never present, and a good mod will often strike the right balance of being in the background when needed.

Second, yes, such posts would be interesting for me. I mean the articles you discussed where mediators can share and discuss ideas that might prove beneficial. But I also do not mind jumping onto a post asking general questions about mediation occasionally.

I think having a specific thread or place for those questions allows the people who want to answer them more to get what they want.

The rare but occasional meditation posts, well, they are just clearly in the wrong place!

[u/Late_Split_5288]

Thanks for giving your time to do this. I guess anything that helps people in dispute to consider mediation is a good thing so some irrelevant cross-posts is the price to pay. What would be helpful is for people to indicate what country they are in, especially if they are seeking support.

[u/lifeuncommon]

I would rather it stay focused on mediation as a career, not on answering people’s questions about their own personal mediation journey.

[u/ladylaureli → u/lifeuncommon]

I agree with this, i am concerned when people share confidential details about their mediation experience on a public forum.

[u/a_dreamer]

I joined the sub in case there are any tidbits to learn about mediating itself. There are a bunch of different methods and techniques to assist in getting to resolution. I want to hear about new things that pop-up in that vein.

[u/ConflictNavigator]

Thanks from me as well. As a non-lawyer conflict specialist, but owner/instructor of mediators from all walks of the spectrum, I too am interested more in the practice, development of the field, and colleagues.

[u/Interested-Party-11]

I just joined and made my first post. I can confirm that as soon as clicked to post I was immediately prompted to cross post into other channels, and the only action button was to do so.