ABSTRACT
This chapter explains about National Institute for Civic Discourse tool to examine how the internet, social media, and new mobile technologies are changing the nature of how people argue with a specific focus on how this technology may either facilitate or impede the products and processes of public argument. This analysis draws from data gathered through participant observations of approximately 95 people who engaged with Text, Talk, Vote in classrooms at Baruch College, CUNY and from a public event held collaboratively with Public Agenda, a New York based non-profit organization. During both the public and student events, users of Text, Talk, Vote seemed mildly curious about its potential, and somewhat interested in the way it operated. However, they were generally not convinced that the tool would dramatically change the way that they or others participated in political discourse.
