Right now, a guaranteed way to lose hope for humanity is to look at any online publication's comment section. These sections almost never have a clear purpose. Instead of discussing substantive issues with one another, people shout into the abyss; there's no way for writers or editors to direct the discussion, and there's no way to quickly gauge how people actually feel about the issues at hand.
That's why we've created Podium, a comment section for publications that want readers to engage in substantive debates (i.e. publications that aren't just pushing clickbait).
Say a journalist writes an article about hashtag activism. Podium allows that writer to decide on a proposition for commenters to address: "Hashtag activism is pointless." Before commenting, commenters choose positions -- pro or con -- and respond directly to the proposition. Commenters can also interact amongst themselves by boosting other commenters' arguments ("you're totally right!") or taking issue with them ("um, your facts are wrong"). Those comments become nested.
The result? More thoughtful comments, a trackable debate, and an easy way to get stats on how readers feel about any given issue. Readers benefit from a more engaging and thought-provoking experience. The publication benefits from increased user engagement and the ability to amass data on reader viewpoints.
Team Members: Maya Itoh, Jenny Ma, Nicholas Reed, Jeff Weitzel, Diane Chang, Benjamin Abraham
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