The great debate has taken on a whole new meaning after taking a bold leap into the world of social networking, thanks to the efforts of networking specialist William Buist. After recognising the need to inject the passion of the ‘good old friendly debate’ into the social networking scene, ‘The Debating Society’ was launched on popular social business networking site Ecademy, and has attracted over 500 members in less than three months.
The Debating Society is a free online club, which is open to all members of Ecademy and has proven to be extremely active within recent months, with new debates and discussions added independently by its members on a daily basis. Other members are then able to add their comments and express their views until the debate is concluded, with the final vote cast and the house motion announced.
With heated debates on subjects ranging from personal privacy and child development through to whether Beijing really deserved to win the Olympics, Buist believes that it fills a much needed gap in the social networking marketplace and is encouraging people to ‘just talk’ if they want build better relationships with their peers.
“The art of debating is a highly valuable communication skill that is becoming less and less prevalent in a society that is increasingly using the web as the foundation on which to build business and personal relationships”, says Buist, who is a highly acclaimed speaker and writer on the subject of on-line networking, collaboration, and building business through word of mouth.
“There was once a time when the greatest debates would be held over a glass of wine with a group of your closest friends or business colleagues and I remember having some of the most engaging and thought-provoking conversations over a dinner table. I wanted to bring that same passion and enthusiasm to members of our ‘virtual table’ through The Debating Society, whilst at the same time helping them to build stronger relationships with each other”, adds Buist, who is aiming to reach the 1,000 members mark by Christmas.
The Debating Society is planning a number of face-to-face debates, which are due to start in the autumn. Further details will be posted on www.performing-teams.com in October.
ENDS