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Andover, MA - May 23, 2007 - Helium (www.Helium.com), a directory of real-world knowledge powered by people like you, takes the flame out of online arguments with Helium Debate, launched today. With this launch, Helium presents the top three issues for each 2008 presidential candidate available for debate by everyone. For example, 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama's stated top issue, "Strengthening America Overseas", is being debated now, live at Helium, by an audience of millions.

Helium Debate leverages the Wisdom of Many.  For the first time, people can speak their minds and consider opposing opinions.  What's more, Helium gives power to the people by letting them be the judge. For each debate topic, articles are presented for comparison side by side.  Helium users rate these articles through a simple yet effective A versus B comparison process. After many ratings by many users, the best articles rise to the top - there's no rigging, gaming or popularity contest - just structured arguments and different perspectives.  Debate is for everyone.  Users can debate a point of view, or read a list of rank-ordered articles.

Election 2008: Debate the Issues
Complete presidential candidates' issues are available in one place, ready for debate now at http://Election2008.helium.com.  Issues include:

DEMOCRATS
Hillary Clinton	Barack Obama	John Edwards
Our troops	Strengthening America overseas	Guaranteeing affordable, quality healthcare for every American
Children's healthcare	Plan to end the Iraq war	Eliminating poverty
Equal pay	Cleaning up Washington	Strengthening America's middle class
REPUBLICANS
Rudy Giuliani	John McCain	Mitt Romney
Fiscal discipline	Government spending, lower taxes and economic prosperity	Defeating the Jihadists
Cutting taxes	Human dignity and the sanctity of life	Competing with Asia
Winning the war on terror	Lobbying and ethics reform	Simplifying the tax system

Finally, democracy for online debate
True online debate has yet to work until today.  Popular community sites, blogs and social networks encourage "debate" through feedback forums or message boards.  The lack of structure and equal presentation of both sides of an argument makes disputes hard-to-follow for readers.

 

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"Our goal is to give people an organized, rational outlet to voice their opinions online.  Whether the argument is "Should the U.S. Send More Troops to Iraq", or "Why Should We Conserve Energy," Helium is the place to find different points of view and contribute your perspective," said Mark Ranalli, President and CEO of Helium.  "Helium is the best place to discuss issues like these online."

Helium presents a list of pro versus con arguments on any subject.  Because members rate articles at Helium, the best arguments on either side of a debate rise to the top and are easy to follow.  Debaters get an open and democratic forum to dispute opinions and gain new perspectives, eliminating the "battle of the posts" or inflamed re-writes common to discussion sites.

About Helium
Helium is a directory of real-world knowledge, powered by people like you. Helium goes beyond search, bringing together real advice from real people on a wide variety of topics. Helium combines user-created content with a simple yet highly effective peer-rating process which pushes the best content to the top, whether there are 5 or 500 articles on a topic. Described as "About, Yahoo Answers and Wikipedia all rolled into one," by Search Engine Journal. Helium is a fun place for people who are passionate about a topic to write and be heard. Helium is a community where you can read, write and rate articles and be rewarded for your efforts. Try it now at http://www.Helium.com.
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