Paper>>PoliticWiki-Exploring Communal Politics 1 Abstract This paper describes the methodology and results of an attempt to use a wiki web site for political collaboration. Recruited through gateway contacts for online political organizations and publications, participants in the PoliticWiki project were asked to create a political platform from scratch. Foundation content was copied from 3rdParty.org to seed the wiki. Of the 78 surveys collected, eight members were responsible for 96% of all content changes. This study identifies obstacles to participation on a point-of-view wiki and explores its function as both a political forum and a vehicle for participatory design. 1 Context of Design Project Political discussion often faces obstacles to communication that include prior assumption about political opinions, inability to access information, and a general disconnection from the people with the power to make decisions. By applying Relational-Cultural Theory(RCT) to the interaction model, it becomes clear that online political forums exhibit both structural and cultural disincentives to engage meaningfully with other discussants. The concept of mutuality ? joining together in a kind of relationship in which all participants are engaged, empathic and growing ? is used as a lens to view potential design changes. Research efforts centered on a six-month study, PoliticWiki, in which participants were asked to use a wiki to collaborate on a new political platform. The findings identify content, structure and leadership as factors contributing to failed collaboration. Other investigations included an agent-based model to simulate critical mass and sustainability of forums, and an unconference (self-organized learning spaces) conducted at a local event sponsored by the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA). Several design concepts emerged: Integrated Discussion Channels; Federated Groups; Local Authorship; and Separation and Focus. Future work will develop this concept system to measure and increase the degree of mutuality within online conversation about political topics. Dirk Riehle 2006-06-09 21:25:03.136 2006-06-08 12:45:06.824