online structured debate

All argument, all the time. And no real structure built in. So goes the comments section of just about any blog out there. Is there a need (therefore a market) for providing technology tools to assist the process of online argument?

So I've been reading up on online tools for structured debate. Debatepedia is one example of several, and I think it's got great potential. However, I think the UI experience is going to need work - how can it be instantly appealing to a wide range of users, say in an iPhone-kinda-way?

Here are some of the threads I've commenting into (not all are approved yet :)

rossnotes

spacedebate

victorybriefsdaily

philanthropy.blogspot.com

if:book

multi-medium

Of related interest: citizendium is not directly a place for debate, but if they want to make it work, the editorial board is going to have to use some kind of tools for online structured debate. (They're really going to have to scale it well to keep up with Wikipedia, but they do have the trump card of better accountability).


USE CASES:

Blog arguments are a perfect partner for up-and-coming sites like Debatepedia. How can they assist each other? What would be some use cases common to both?

- User marks blog argument as specific instance of already-established argument, provides link to entry in debatepedia or other online tool.

- User quickly extracts structure of blog entry comments section, and transforms it into skeleton of debate (for use in debatepedia or other tools)

- User marks blog argument as faulty, as defined by established argument rules in (debatepedia or some other warehouse of argument rules); "faulty" is one or more of: ad-hominem attacks; personal attacks; unsupported claim; logical flaw; urban legend; etc etc.


ONE LAST THING

Finally, in keeping with the digitalpocketknife philosophy: if you think this stuff is useful, and you've got a mobile phone, would you use this on your mobile phone? Wouldn't it be great to get a quick primer on the main points of an argument, no matter where you are? But how would it work on a little screen - would video be the solution? If so, when are the carriers going to give us affordable, high-performance mobile streaming video?