Kialo

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Kialo is an online platform for structured, civil debate and collaborative reasoning. It uses argument maps in a tree format, with a main thesis at the root and Pro and Con branches that can be expanded as users add arguments and rate their impact on the claim.

Registered users create concise arguments (up to 500 characters) that can link to external sources. Debates can start with multiple theses, representing different options or hypotheses. Arguments are organized so you can see how each point supports or counters the main claim, and newcomers can join anytime to contribute or comment on specific arguments. Debates include a discussion tab for proposing edits, moving arguments to other branches, or asking for more evidence, and there’s a chat box for ongoing conversations.

To keep discussions clear, the platform links related arguments to avoid duplication, and it uses visuals like a sunburst diagram to help you understand large debates. The Perspectives feature shows how supporters, opponents, moderators, and other contributors weigh in, helping you see the debate from different angles. Kialo Edu offers a teacher-focused view of votes for classes.

Users can vote on the overall topic and on individual claims, with a Guided Voting tool to help navigate the tree. As of 2021 there was no mobile app. By 2023, Kialo reported thousands of debates in many languages, including over 18,000 public debates, more than 1 million votes, and over 720,000 claims.

Kialo is free for the public and educational use, and the site aims to avoid ads and data selling. It’s used in research, with options to export data for analysis and to study argumentation, opinion change, and related topics. The platform was founded in August 2017 by Errikos Pitsos and is based in Brooklyn and Berlin.