How do I launch a Discussion?

What is the Discussion? 💬

The Discussion is the most elaborate interactive participatory module, developed for in-depth debate. It offers a wide range of options for your participants to get involved: 

• Writing their own contributions
• Reading others’ opinion
• Commenting on a contribution
• Upvoting a suggestion
• Create highlights to emphasize specific aspects
• Reacting with our citizen emojis
• Sharing on social media
• Saving contributions to get notified

Your participants can use the highlighting tool to emphasize the main ideas within their own or someone else's contribution. 

To learn more about our other participatory modules, click here!

Why choose the Discussion? 📚

This module differs from the other modules because it allows your participants to dive deeper into a topic: there are more ways of interacting and contributions can be much longer. Participants are encouraged to share their opinion in more detail, for example by illustrating it with images, videos or other supporting documents. 

As administrators, you can comment on your participants’ suggestions to show that your citizens' opinions are heard and taken seriously.

How to set it up? 🔧

To set up your Discussion, go to the settings page and click on "+ Add participation module" > "Discussion" > "Add". You can always hover over the “?” icon on the right side of the page for brief explanations. Try to share as much information as possible, in a very simple way, to give the participants all the tools they need to get involved. The clearer the explanation, the better the engagement.

How can I improve engagement on my Discussion? 📢

You have several tools at hand to make your participants get more engaged in your Discussion. First, make sure to regularly check the activity on your platform and to read all the contributions carefully. You should try to answer all valuable contributions: it is usually highly appreciated by the participants!

Bear in mind to use positive vocabulary when you answer your participants.

Avoid saying: “Your idea is not going to be implemented because it has already been decided otherwise.”

Instead say: “Thank you John for taking the time to share your opinion! We will keep your idea in mind. If you are interested in this subject, then you will probably like what we implemented last year in… ”

And when it’s over? ⏱️

It is time to share your results and what you plan on doing with them! Start by thanking your participants for taking the time to share their opinion. Then, share your results in a very simple and understandable way. 

Feel like something is unclear or you need some advice? Our team of experts is here to help you! Contact contact@civocracy.org