Building consensus online
From:
Michael Allan
Date:
Jan 27 09:18 UTC
Short link
One possibility (not sure if it applies in your case) is a voting
mechanism such as a delegate cascade. It tends to coalesce votes and
encourages consensus.
http://zelea.com/project/votorola/a/design.xht#delegate-cascade
I'm implementating it within an open electoral system (Votorola). The
sampling errors that Simon mentions would be less of a concern for
that application. Its user base is intended to approach the size of
the population (electorate).
I'm trying (with less confidence) to ground the system's design in
social theory. Unforced consensus is crucial to Habermas's theory of
communicative action, just as it's crucial to the design of the
electoral system. (I'm hoping to find other correlations, and maybe
make predictions from them.)
--
Michael Allan
http://zelea.com/
On Sat, Jan 26, 2008 at 07:38:14AM -0600, Steven Clift wrote:
>
> I've found that most online tools and techniques bring our differences of
opinion rather than forging agreement within large groups online (over say 15
people). The Internet does a great job at getting issues on the table, allowing
like-minds to coalase, and when done right builds respect among those with
differing opinions.
>
> Can take this further?
>
> Let's say that we want move online from the statement of positions or surveys
that show current opinions to agreement or consensus on actions or proposals
among the vast majority of say 1,000 people.
>
> What would you do? What have you seen?