Let's Talk

In times of crisis or when dealing with divisive issues, the lack of a common space where people can gather to talk is sharply felt.

The Internet, with its one-to-one and many-to-many communication capabilities, seems an ideal environment in which to address this problem. While tools are now available that can meet this need, like Google Hangouts, barriers to their easy use have slowed their adoption. Nonetheless, the promise of these tools, to provide an ongoing space for dialogue, is clearly recognized.

Through this project we aim to create a model and encourage the video dialogue format; host, promote, and disseminate dialogues online; and provide technical advise and best practices to users of the video dialogue. By creating a model for online video dialogue we will be able to work out processes (finding participants, getting them online, and assuring quality discussions) and share best practices with others so that the format can be easily replicated.

Work & Wages Facilitator Susanna Haas Lyons
Talks About Using Google Hangouts

The Real Dialogues project is getting ready to roll out a series of  short videos edited from our Hangouts on Work & Wages. We found that  Google+ Hangouts have tremendous potential for facilitating discussions like ours, where participants included employees and employers, unemployed people and minimum wage workers.

Facilitation is crucial to assure that civil and productive dialogue takes place on delicate issues like employment. The process of facilitating Hangouts is similar to in-person dialogues, with a few important differences. Because people participate from their own homes, wherever they live, the barrier of distance that often limits face-to-face discussions is overcome. And there is an intimacy when people can “come as you are” without having to leave home. But Hangouts create new problems: it is easier to be distracted by incoming email and messages; and technical problems may arise, so that  the facilitator needs to be familiar with the technology or a technical coordinator needs to participate.

We look forward to sharing the Work & Wages videos when they are released in early May.

Hangout On Work and Wages 

Hangout on Healthcare

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