How can I know that an "opinion" expressed as "knowledge" is reliable?
Postings can be sorted in a variety of ways. One of the most valuable ways to sort information is by corroboration level — that is, the number of supporting comments and links. When the user sorts by corroboration level, the KnowledgeFilter software finds the total number of positive or supporting comments for each posting on a subject, subtracts the number of opposing or dissenting comments, and then brings the most highly supported postings to the top. Both types of comments are available at all times for review below each posting. Users can read supporting and opposing comments and then decide for themselves what to believe. 

Information can also be sorted by the author's reputation rating. In the cookbook, for example, recipes can be sorted to favor authors of other popular recipes. In more expertise-dependent fields such as medicine and finance, there are two types of users, casual users and "registered experts". In these forums, users can chose to sort opinions by registered expert feedback or by casual user opinion and personal experience.

How will you get people to contribute and vote on content?
Community forums are co-located on Websites that are frequented by hobbyists and enthusiasts who are particularly interested in sharing knowledge on their favorite subject. This sense of participatory community has motivated millions of people to generate millions of pages of information and opinion in the Usenet newsgroup forums despite their low signal-to-noise ratio and complete lack of incentive programs. We expect most forums to be seeded with an initial body of content by or for the sponsoring partner. In many cases, a large body of knowledge is already available on topic-specific sites. This knowledge-base can easily be imported to the Knowledge Filter system. In the case of a wine or investment site, for example, the online reviews or opinions already buried within a sponsoring site could form the core of an interactive KnowledgeFilter Forum which would then grow by user participation. 

We are also using several new methods to ensure that users take an active part in building the KnowledgeFilter forums:

• In forums such as the Joke Center and the World Family Cookbook, the "price of admission" is a content posting. That is, after the first free visits, users must contribute a posting in order to browse other people's postings.
   
• Prizes and recognition will be awarded to top-rated contributors. This will provide incentive for "experts" while offering promotional opportunities for sponsors. That is, the cooking site sponsor might award prizes from its product line to the top rated chefs in each category and the gardening site might award coveted gardening products to the poster with the highest collaborative rating from other gardeners.
   
• The "Knowledge Navigation Console" is laid out in a way that makes it easy to rate on impulse after reading a posting.
   
• Independent incentive programs: There are several companies that specialize in incentive programs designed to reward people for participating in polls and interactivity. We are considering working with one or more of the following: www.beenz.com, www.coolsavings.com, www.ecentives.com, www.freeride.com, www.hotcoupons.com, www.mypoints.com, www.netcentives.com. 

What keeps people from "stuffing the ballot box" to promote their own opinions?
The KnowledgeFilter software incorporates a system that tracks the IP addresses of voters and assigns them "cookies" that prevent them from voting on any posting more than once. Users can also be required to register, further preventing fraud in critical applications such as consumer ratings.

How do you avoid "spam"?
A moderator can remove inappropriate postings and prevent troublesome users from re-entering the system monitors each forum.

What about opposing viewpoints?
Most forums include for the opportunity for any user to post opposing views or links to opposing views. Users are encouraged to review both favorable and opposing comments that accompany postings. Some postings will be accompanied by numerous opinions on both sides of the issue, thereby identifying them as controversial by nature.