Tawkers.com Establishing Itself as Home of Political Discourse

Online, December 6, 2013 (Newswire.com) - There is something to be said for the old adage, "when you gather three people to make a decision, they can never agree." If you've ever looked at the comment section of any serious discussion on anything, that is easily observable. When a gaggle of strangers gathers to comment upon things, with passion, sometimes the original topic gets lost in the onslaught of straw-men, personal attacks, and instances of Godwin's Law. For those of you fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with this Internet Law, it can be boiled down to reductio ad Hitlerum. Or, the longer an online discussion goes on, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches.

In that light, how do you find a place for real, sincere, meaningful conversation? Well, the answer appears to be: you make it. Tawkers.com is the brainchild of former Apple consultant Blake Ian. From the site's mission statement: Our mission with Tawkers is to provide a real home for meaningful discussion on the internet. The platform, at its most basic, is an open, permanent, and public instant message conversation. To the side, users, called Tawkers, can chat amongst themselves. If the audience at large decides a comment is especially relevant or enlightening, it can be brought to the attention of the Hosts through a series of upvoting and Spotlighting. If the Hosts like it, they can bring it officially into the conversation. This allows for a fluid and dynamic style of conversation that still retains narrative control. It is the best of a Q&A session combined with the best of moderated panels.

But, what are they doing beyond providing a platform? There is a certain amount of "build it and they will come," but the Tawkers.com honchos have taken it a step further. They have hired a team of resident Tawkers, from comedians to reproductive rights advocates. The previous experience of the resident hosts ranges from mom to maverick, inclusive.

The site has a definite lean to the left, but takes time to reach across the aisle. A recent Tawk was hosted by the site's Vice President of Business Development, capitalist-turned-activist, Jordan Birnbaum, and anchor Amy Holmes. The siterunners aren't afraid of controversy. They're excited to create a home for passion and rational thought to come together. With Tawk titles like "Who Should Care About Foreign Policy" and "So You Want to Join the Peace Corps," there are a suite of ideas being discussed and room for all opinions.

For more information on Tawkers, visit the website: www.tawkers.com