The Economist online debate series
The Economist Debate Series is in full swing. The latest debate is centred on the proposition that “The competitiveness of today’s rich countries is in permanent decline”. The rules are familiar to anybody who’s seen debates before. Somebody is arguing for the proposition and somebody against. And those viewing the debate can vote. But this Economist debate is online.
The online debate series uses a simple online community functionality:
- the debate has a moderator and a individual commentators or experts who are for and against the motion. Their arguments are put to the debate when the community is launched
- individual readers can access the community site, read the arguments and vote for or against the motion. They are asked to post their comments and reasons with their vote
- the experts return twice more – each time a few days apart. They respond to the other expert’s comments and to the comments of the community members who have voted
- community members can change their vote during the period of the debate, either because their opinions change or develop, or because they are convinced by the developing arguments
- the debate closes after ten days and the winner announced
I love these Economist debates. They are a great example of one of the real benefits of online communities – they allow real and true reflection on your opinions. Rather than just getting to vote once, or getting just a couple of hours to consider a complex issue, people get ten days and can read arguments multiple times. They get to comment and have their comments responded to. They are entering into a real and reasoned exchange.
We find in our online research communities that people give better depth of response and more reasoned reactions when they have time to think about and consider issues, and to read and re-read any inputs or arguments. The Economist debates allow this and I think reading through the comments from community members that you can really see the benefit that comes from this time and reasoned comment.
Overall this kind of online debate programme probably generates more reasoned comment than its offline counterpart. As such it is a great example of where online communities can enhance the previous offline experience.
Some more reading
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