A New Web App Lets The Politically Curious
Connect To The "Other Side"
_________________________________________________________________
Oct 22, 2006 --- San Francisco

Countless polls confirm that most Americans don't hold to a strict party line when it comes to their political opinions. Nonetheless, in the bi-annual slug-fest known as elections, the middle-grounders are marginalized and the non-dogmatic drowned out.

But this year, it could be different: RedBlue is an online social experiment that connects people to their political counterparts, helping them engage in meaningful - and fun - dialogue across political boundaries. We are signing up beta testers now, at http://www.redblueus.org

The RedBlue beta site is being launched just before election day by two non-profits: Internews Interactive, a San Francisco Bay Area experimenter in broadband and broadcast interactivity; and The Public Conversations Project, a Boston-based company that facilitates difficult dialogues.

RedBlue is for the politically curious, the broadminded, and anyone who has been insulted ("flamed") on traditional blog sites because they disagreed with conventional wisdom. Its creators are betting that many Americans feel left out of political dialogue, and are looking for a way to be understood, and to understand how others think.

The RedBlue dialogue process will eventually become part of a website, RedBlueUS, that will let users play games, engage in social networking, and get to know each other better. Look for that in time for the 2008 election.

####