As DebateThis has grown and become more defined I've started to have some major concerns about its resemblance to a stand-alone app. In it's current state, it is a pretty big undertaking with a lot of layers (profiles, leader boards, etc) that aren't really prioritizing the actual news. How much of DebateThis is about news, how much about fame, and how much about the social networking? Have we found the right balance? Are we wrapping the news up in options in the same way you hide a pill in a piece of meat you feed the dog?
My first reaction was to simplify the idea, trim the fat off....but then it comes dangerously close to looking like a comments section.
I love the idea of competition and encouraging critical thinking, it makes people better citizens, no matter what side of a debate they happen to be on, but I wonder if what we have here is a little too big to be appealing to a news site.
I don't say these things to suggest that it's a bad idea, I wouldn't have wanted to work on it if I had thought that way...I'm still totally on board, and will continue to develop some more aesthetic options, but I want us to really think about these issues. Is DebateThis too complicated to be desirable??? Is a simplified version possible??? Am I just a pessimist?
Later 'bators
I agree, Christina. As it stands, DebateThis is a bit too wide ranging, at this point. I've been racking my brain on ways to pare it down while keeping what makes it special, to me, and I'm not getting anywhere. If someone can figure out a way to make it more workable, though, I'm all in favor of going forward.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with the complicated aspect of it, but does making it less complicated turn it into a comments section?? That's what worries me.
ReplyDeleteWe've really got to take the best of what we have and make that the core of DebateThis. ALthough everything we've talked about has been cool, we absolutely have to take it down several notches.
ReplyDeleteMost of the apps and sites we've looked at have been relatively simple in their execution, with one or two snazzy elements. That's what we have to do.