Today Scoop launched HiveMind a new platform for citizen engagement and people powered decision making in collaboration
with Public Engagement Partners. ‘The hivemind’ is a term used to describe large groups of people who share their
knowledge or opinions with one another to produce collective intelligence. Our use of this metaphor reflects the desire
to include a range of public voices in developing new thinking about complex and challenging problems.
A healthy democracy involves more than holding elections - it requires a constant exchange of ideas and the hearing of
all voices. Where we forget how to do this we become poorer as a society.
A new approach to online news media comments and social media discussion is essential today due to the manipulation of
news and the inability of most online media discussions to achieve any productive outcomes for anyone involved. Existing
media discussions often tend to feed oppositional thinking and ultimately lead to conflict, groupthink and
echo-chambers.
HiveMind is an experiment in new ways of building consensus and trust and promoting healthy public discussions in ‘the
new town square’. In this approach, participants are encouraged to develop arguments, to understand other perspectives
and ultimately to find common ground and innovative solutions.
HiveMind has been inspired by international successes using the Pol.is software and we will be the first news media
organisation in the world using this technology to our knowledge.
Taiwan’s Civic Hacker g0v movement has notably utilised this tool to facilitate nationwide public policy development
discussions including reaching an agreement between all parties in the debate over the legality of the Uber ride sharing
company in Taiwan.
The Pol.is tool uses cutting edge peer-to-peer and machine learning technology to surface trends and to group
participants together according to commonly expressed views. However, the design of the tool seeks to break down these
silos and bring divergent groups together rather than push them further apart. This is an example of AI being used in
the service of democracy and unity as opposed to more sinister uses which seek to mine personal data for commercial or
surveillance purposes.
Our first HiveMind exploration will address the complex topic of sugar and obesity in New Zealand and what we should do
about it. To help everyone take part we have developed a resource base of research and articles, including identifying
potential perspectives from across the political spectrum and possible action based on each perspective.
We believe potential solutions can come from all sides of the political spectrum and from the understanding and
compromise between such perspectives. This is the inherent value of the HiveMind.
We look forward to this first exploration and warmly welcome you to get involved and invite anyone else who may be
interested in this issue or in trialling the new discussion approach.
Click here to take part in the discussion and to read perspectives on Sugar and obesity
Click here for facts and research on Sugar and obesity
Click here to find out more about Hivemind and the software we are using
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Support the Scoop Foundation
If you believe public discussion in the news media is important, please consider supporting the Scoop Foundation for
Public Interest Journalism crowdfunding campaign. Your support will help make more initiatives such as this possible in
the crucial election year in 2017.
Contact:
For more info contact joe@scoop.co.nz