whereIstand.com crowdsources its opinion database
Arianna Huffington feels the Internet has had a positive effect on journalism. She has said flat-out, “Journalism will not only survive, it will thrive.” How do I know? Because I looked it up at whereIstand.com.
The site is a sort of Wikipedia for opinions on current events. Arianna could type in her own statement, but the site’s goal is to have enthusiastic members enter the opinions of well-known and influential people on hot topics. Then, the crowd rejiggers the opinion entry until they feel it’s correct.
WhereIstand recently launched a Comparison Application, which lets members see how they line up with the people in the site’s database. Politics and gadgets seem to be the busiest schools of opinion on the site. So after expressing your simplified take on a topic — you get to choose one of two opposing stances — you can see how you compare to, say, Robert Scoble on Facebook’s real-time homepage design.
WhereIstand.com, based in New York and founded in 2006 by CEO Nick Oliva, has five employees. A seed round of $350,000 funding was led by Charles Zegar, the founder of Bloomberg, LP, and Merryl Zegar. Additional early-stage funding of $850,000 was also provided by the Zegars last year. The company is currently chasing a Series A round.
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About the Author, Paul Boutin
Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.