In a post earlier this summer, I wrote about the barriers to adopting new democratic technologies: the powers that be are reluctant to cede control, and the trial and error process of testing social technology takes time.  In order to overcome these and build a more participatory, web-based public sphere, innovators must delicately balance the [...]

As we mentioned, the Netroots (i.e. online progressives) have been using MixedInk to draft their platform online.  This was the first time our beta tool’s been used by the general public, so this was a big moment for us - and it kicked butt! Whether you agree with the Netroots or not, there’s no denying that [...]

This year’s Netroots Nation Convention marks the launch of a bold experiment in participatory democracy.  The Netroots (i.e. the left half of the blogosphere) will use MixedInk’s collaborative writing tool to craft their very own political platform in advance of the Democratic Convention.  At two working sessions, participants will kick off the initiative by putting [...]

Check out this video, singing praise for tools that tap people’s knowledge - whether using prediction markets to forecast everything from election results to American Idol winners to asking the audience tough questions answer on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.  They point out that people - collectively - perform consistently better than the pundits [...]

We just tested out the latest version of our tool, and I wanted to share the results.  The short version: the test was a success! Last week, 30 beta testers (read: friends) used MixedInk to help write a letter to the editor explaining why Barack Obama shouldn’t choose Hillary Clinton as his VP.   (We did not [...]

For years, wide-eyed journalists, politicos and academics have captured people’s imagination with musings about the many ways the Internet would democratize our society.  A decade and a half after the Internet’s emergence, the anticipated transformation is certainly underway.  Media, political, and corporate institutions have begun to incorporate readers, constituents and consumers into their regular operational [...]

In searching for a hosting solution, we were surprised by the lack of trustworthy information online to help people decide between them.  We set up a quick survey and are posting the results here.  There were 27 usable responses (the rest were missing too much information to use).   So the results are far from statistically [...]

I just stumbled on this article Marc Ambinder wrote in The Atlantic Monthly last month about how Barack Obama may “transform governance just as he has transformed campaigning.”  This little nugget stood out and I thought it was worth sharing: Communication and transparency are virtues only up to a point; as students of bureaucracies know, both [...]

Sorry for the big pause in MixedInk’s musings. It was a busy Spring! Over the past few weeks and months, there have been some notable developments in the crowd-powered arena, and I just want to take a moment to highlight a few interesting examples. We’re always excited to see forward-looking companies embracing the collective wisdom, so cheers [...]

There was a great NY Tech Meetup last week that got me thinking about collective organizing. For the first time the NY Tech Meetup had a theme, “Power to the People: The Future of Organizing.” It’s exciting to see great new ideas promoting people power – and forums that uncover and celebrate their [...]