MixedInk for Collaborative Group Statements

The deal at MixedInk is that a group of people can work together to produce a single statement. That could be a party platform or a mission statement. In any case, it could be a real step toward online democracy, something for real:

MixedInk has developed an online collaborative writing tool that allows massive groups to weave their ideas and opinions into a single text - like an op-ed, petition, mission statement, product review, or even draft legislation. It combines the wiki concept with a democratic rating system like Digg. Professor Lawrence Lessig recently described MixedInk to the NY Observer as "a collaborative environment where people can begin to work out what a solution is...a compelling part of what this participation could be."

The company earned positive media attention last summer when a group of online activists used it to develop a political platform together, a piece of which was included in the official 2008 Democratic platform. Next month, MixedInk will launch its free service in tandem with a partnership project with a major media company.

MixedInk Demo from MixedInk on Vimeo.

Comments

[kevingiampa]

It's great technology and makes good things easier, but we should bring to these tools the understanding of how complex democracy can be. There's no guarantee that the "collective viewpoint" will be the best one. And the idea of a large group speaking with one voice seems as difficult in virtual reality as it is in actual reality.

Such collective thinking requires compromise, and it's important to remember that you don't need mixedink, wikis, or even a computer to be able to think and compromise for the purpose of a larger good, a better world. Still great stuff, just think we need a little more wisdom and less idol-ization of new media.

[pdxdog]

This sounds like a fabulous tool for collaboration, community building and creating bigger than life, but imaginable outcomes for diverse groups of people.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[DaveStern]

Thanks for the shout out, Craig! By the way, MixedInk launched a site in partnership with Slate today where people can collaborate with each other - and with past presidents! - to create an inaugural address together.

Slate (and maybe HuffPost?) will post the final collective version on their site! Here's the link:

http://www.slate.com/id/2207900/