InterTwinkles
Communication works differently online. So it's no surprise that for groups that try to do democratic decision making online, things can get a little strained. People have to learn to speak in different ways, and to come up with different strategies for reaching understanding. It takes more than just a forum plus voting for people to actually understand each other.
InterTwinkles is a research project and platform for developing tools to help reach the type of deep understanding that is necessary for consensus decision making.
Voting and proposals are part of this – but only the easiest part. :) The real challenge is getting diverse groups of people with varying degrees of computer literacy and access, varying communciation styles, and varying experience on the same page.
Charlie DeTar and Chris Schmandt