The rise of new media has brought many changes to the way people communicate – more instantly, more briefly, and more regularly – but to some extent, also more casually, less thoroughly and less constructively. The irony is that the technologies driving new media have the potential to bring depth, effectiveness and utility to dialogue like never before. The purpose of this ongoing project is to research and implement new media technologies in the interest of constructive dialog.
Several areas have been identified where dialog might be made more constructive:
Hypothesis: mere contradictions halt dialogue without adding to it; an alternative point of view adds additional perspective without disrupting momentum.
Hypothesis: a healthy dialogue "ecosystem" nurtures all three of these elements in balance.
Hypothesis: views belong to anyone, facts belong to everyone and stories belong to someone; all three should be given and received in different ways, but healthy dialog relies on the exchange – both gift and receipt.
Hypothesis: an invitation to conversation is validating, humanizing and nonthreatening; it is the basis for understanding and change.
Hypothesis: no conversation is a finished product; it is engaging in the process that gives dialog its core value.
A core element of the strategy for addressing these goals is a field of research known as captology (computers as persuasive technology). Persuasive technology is not manipulative. The idea is to use technological tools to reach participants at the moments of decision, and persuade them to choose a constructive behavior. BJ Fogg wrote a book entitled Persuasive Technology, and a lab at Stanford is a leader in this field. In this case, the online dialog framework (where people meet and converse online) would be built with these techniques, in such a way that participants are able to engage in constructive dialog with no prior training, to the end that they build habits that sustain these kinds of conversation. Another important methodology is known as appreciative inquiry, sometimes called "the discipline of positive change.". Though a timeless practice, it has been studied in detail since the late 80s. A book by Jim Lord and Pam McAllister titled What Kind of World Do You Want?, is an excellent introduction.
Benjamin Field is pleased to be working with several members of the community in researching, testing and implementing this project, including Rufus Woods, publisher of the Wenatchee World, and Nancy Warner, previously with the Nature Conservancy, and currently working with an organization called IRIS to build and nurture sustainable community in Washington State.
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