Discordia is an experiment in social filtering, collaborative moderation and different styles of communication. In order to try out how software structures influence discussion, Discordia is a weblog - also known as a blog. Most blogs only post stories written by the editor or editors. Some blogs allow readers to post comments about stories, and some allow users to submit stories to editors, who then decide what stories get posted. But very few blogs allow readers to decide for themselves what stories get posted - peer moderation. On Discordia, readers submit stories into a moderation queue, and other readers decide what stories get posted. Examples of other peer moderated weblog sites are Indymedia and Kuro5hin.
With so many mailing lists already devoted to art, media, politics, theory, what is the point of yet another discussion forum?
Mailing lists tend to favor an essay-type style of writing and/or a statement-rebuttal type of communication because of their linear structure. Discordia uses the blog structure and different sections to encourage shorter posts and different styles of communication. Since this structure enables prioritizing, it should also be easier to follow and combine various topics.
Another thing - if you're as overwhelmed by mailing lists constantly bombarding your inbox as some of us are, we hope you'll appreciate the way you can come and go to Discordia at your leisure. It's sort of like one of those hot/cold media differentiations. Mailing list posts come to you; with a weblog, you go to it.

After two years the Discordia stopped and is now archived.

collaborators: Saul Albert | Amy Alexander | Aileen Derieg | Geert Lovink | Alex McLean | Trebor Scholz | Pip Shea | Sintron | Peter Traub

sponsorship: the project archive is hosted by O.K Center for Contemporary Art in Linz, Austria

website: archived Discordia site