JOLITICS.COM, THE latest project from Bebo co-founder Michael Birch, opened to the Irish public yesterday, with its owner setting it the difficult task of fostering rational discussion online.

The site, which allows users to propose, debate and vote on political ideas, was accessible by invitation only, but anyone from Ireland can now become a member.

Birch says he recognises the main problems with existing discussion platforms and his team had developed the network to try to overcome them.

“You’re always going to have the hard left and the hard right in a debate but most people are somewhere in the middle,” he says. “We’re trying to create a platform where every view is represented and it is not overcome with a very vocal minority like others.”

He adds that user engagement was another issue, with many likely to dip in and out of a discussion, which can allow a minority to take control of it.

Central to Jolitics’s plan for resolving this is a system that allows each member to nominate another to vote on issues on their behalf. This means people can link their vote to users they agree with, allowing them to become more influential in the community.

“It’s not like a four-year election where you vote for someone and then you have no say in what they do for four years,” he says.

“The community will constantly be changing based on their actions, so if you’re not partaking in the way that people agree with, then you start losing influence.”

“The mechanics of that can be quite interesting in itself as you see people gain and lose influence . . . it’s a bit like a game and we do want to add some game mechanics without trivialising the subject.”

To stop people manipulating this system, new members have to register a valid mobile phone number. They also need to link their Facebook account to the site, but Birch hopes to move away from this requirement over time.

Once registered, members can link themselves to a region – in the case of Ireland a county or city council – but cannot link to a particular political party.

“We want it to be very issue-based and we’re trying to avoid party politics,” Birch says. “That’s the crux of the site and we’re trying to centre it around issues and make everything public.”

Ireland was chosen as a starting point for the site for a number of reasons, not least because of its size and the population’s willingness to talk about politics. He says the UK will be the site’s next target, with the success of the public launch here dictating the timing of this.

However, due to the local focus, each country’s site will largely act independently of others when it is introduced abroad.

“The nature of the site is that it’s very country-specific, which a lot of sites aren’t.

“There may be instances down the line where people can vote on European or global issues but for the most part it would not make sense to have someone from one country vote on an issue relating to another.”

Birch accepts that there is no guarantee that the site will be a success or that the community will develop the way he hopes. He predicts a “tipping point”, where enough members are active on the site to make it relevant and says its ultimate goal would be to have an influence on real-world politics.

While it is unclear if such a project can overcome the often negative and sometimes abusive nature of political discussion online, what is even less obvious is a business model for such a site.

Birch says one option is on-site advertising, but this could lead to bias content from political parties. Another potential revenue stream, he adds, could see Jolitics act as a conduit for politicians to raise funds online, with the site taking a commission for the service.

However, for now Birch seems unconcerned about the site’s money-making potential. Jolitics is funded entirely by the money he made from the sale of Bebo and so he is under no pressure to please investors or shareholders with quick returns.

“Like anything, it has to be sustainable and it makes sense to make some money so it can be sustainable, but the honest answer is we haven’t thought about that a great deal,” he says.

“I’m confident that there’s a need for this site, but the trick is if you can get the masses involved rather than the obvious political extremists.”