On the one hand, social media has become a place for debates and arguments, making us forget what it is like to ‘disagree gracefully’. On the other, we cannot undermine its role in influencing people and helping our thoughts and voices travel across the world.
Recently, Pune-based startup Vmoot launched a debating and polling platform. Started with an aim to help the common people raise their voice, the question and opinion platform can be used to post questions, either in the form of a debate or as an interactive poll. Users can discuss issues related to politics, city and local affairs, sports, entertainment and so on with those who have similar interests and arrive at a particular opinion based on the discussion. You can also invite friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter to participate.
Kunal Shelar, founder and CEO, says that people can login into the platform through Facebook, Google or their personal email address. Once they log in, they have to select the interest on which they would like to debate on or poll. “After you have selected, people will be able to see all the debates and polls related to their interest. Users can raise questions either as a debate or a poll, and the question can be private, where only the users whom the question is shared with can see and participate, or the question can be public, where all the users related to the interest can participate. They can set a time for the debate and can hide their identity as well in the question,” adds Shelar.
When the question is raised people can provide their opinion under, ‘I Vouch’, ‘I Don’t’ or ‘Neutral’. Once the debate gets over, the admin and people who participated can get the result of the debate and find out the voice of people which can be further shared with concerned authorities.
Vmoot has a user-friendly layout, working and features support debate and poll. It is the balance of social networking and debating. The best part is that the debates and polls, questions, opinions etc once raised or posted can be deleted or edited only within the next 10 minutes. “A dislike given on any opinion should have a justification or else it doesn’t get counted. The user can remain anonymous for all his activities. What is also interesting is that the platform allows you to take part in voice debating,” he adds.
However, such platforms do exist like FB, Twitter, Reddit, Quora where one can have debates and discussions, so why Vmoot then? Shelar says that all the features of Vmoot revolve around ‘debating’. “All the opinions on Vmoot are counted and once the debate gets over the result shows the voice of the people and not as individuals. Also, a user can report about a comment to the admin who go through the comment and if they find it abusive, they can remove it. If a user is abusive in most of the comments and does not rectify even after warnings from Vmoot through mail, his account is removed,” quips Shelar.
Today’s youngsters are more vocal about their opinion and aren’t afraid to take a stand. Agreeing to which Shelar agrees and says, “Youngsters are the future of our country and when they rise up against issues it brings a lasting change. They are capable and educated individuals who understand the importance of exercising their opinion. They are the new force behind change.”
