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USATalk
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| USATalk | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Founder(s): | Will Ferguson and Adolf G. Gundersen |
| Year founded: | 2017 |
| Website: | Official website |
USATalk is an online discussion organization founded to moderate public debate of policy and politics through nonpartisan online platforms.[1]
Mission
As of August 2017, the website for USATalk listed the following mission statement for the organization:[2]
| “ | Our mission is to create an easily accessible online moderated public discussion organization for U.S. citizens.
Our organization will strive to be thoroughly non-partisan and transparent. We share the goal of the Founders of the United States to secure the rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness with a Government deriving its just power from the consent of the governed. To pursue this goal, we will create an an online environment that promotes open, respectful, constructive and quantifiably balanced discussion from all American political persuasions, so that participants better understand varied perspectives on issues and policies.[3] |
” |
Work
USATalk was founded in February 2017 as a collaboration between a business leader in machine learning, Will Ferguson, and Interactivity Foundation (IF) fellow Adolf Gundersen. They founded the organization as a platform for promoting civil and moderated online discourse on public policy issues. According to the press release announcing the partnership in August 2017, "Ferguson and Gundersen’s ultimate vision is to develop, through repeated experimentation, a platform that—in addition to facilitated discussion–will incorporate reliable information links and feedback loops to enable continued refinement."[4]
Des Moines Schools Community Discussion Project
In July 2017, the IF, USATalk, and Ballotpedia collaborated on the Des Moines Schools Community Discussion Project to identify issues important to voters in Des Moines, Iowa, and to help voters understand the stances of school board candidates on those issues. USATalk contributed as an online platform for moderating the community discussions.[5]
Leadership
As of August 2017, the website for USATalk listed the following individuals as members of the organization's staff and leadership:[6]
- Will Ferguson, Co-founder and CEO
- Adolf G. Gundersen, Co-founder
- Sean Van Tyne, Contributor
- John Thomas, Contributor
- David Fogel, Advisor
- Sorin Adam Matei, Advisor
- Larry Sanger, Advisor
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'USATalk'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ USATalk, "Home," accessed August 15, 2017
- ↑ USATalk, "Mission," accessed August 15, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Interactivity Foundation, "IF Partners with Online Discussion Startup USATalk," August 3, 2017
- ↑ The Interactivity Foundation, "Des Moines Schools Community Discussion Project," August 3, 2017
- ↑ USATalk, "Team," accessed August 15, 2017
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