These mechanisms are effective in the commercial world at attracting visitors to the site. I'm skeptical that they're effective at generating high-quality, informed discussion of complex issues. An issue I've faced as a listowner in another context: How do you get well-informed, sophisticated observers to participate in the same discussions as less-informed, less-sophisticated ones (rather than channeling their energies into what they regard as more productive, less inclusive forums)?(posted 8906 days ago)