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Barkles (SMART 100)

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The following SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity. More about the SMART 100.

Barkles (VIC)

This innovation initially came to life when…

Diesel Laws noticed the YouTube community sharing opinions below videos that didn’t necessarily relate to the video itself.

This prompted research into whether or not the video itself was actually needed to encourage opinions. The problem however, was that there was no platform at the time for honest opinions and discussions to be accepted and encouraged.

After a few variations of the Barkles platform, Diesel teamed up with Jay Whiting to build the “side-by-side debating service” that exists today.

WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

Encourage open and honest debates through concise opinions. Now teachers, students, adults, teenagers and children have a place where they can answer questions with their opinions in an open and supportive place.

It does this by…

Allowing members to jump into any debate at any time sharing their opinions throughout. We also encourage our members to ask binary questions to receive opinions to gather an overall sentiment for one thing vs. the other.

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

It encourages honest and accountable opinions at a time when anonymity is a peak. The art of trolling is something that is a problem for many open commenting systems, yet with Barkles, we have built a platform that highlights honesty, so the focus is put back to the question at hand.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

Simple debating; better understanding of “who stands for what”; encouragement to speak one’s mind; to get your questions answered by worldwide members.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

A combination of commenting systems and polls (or early-stage competitors). By merging the two, we have a crafted a simpler and easier system for members to share opinions.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

Twosides, Unfold, Topickr.

TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

Teachers/students to discuss school items, tech entrepreneurs to debate their favourite products and anyone who likes debating other general topics.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

It is available for sale through…

Barkles.com. Currently, everything we offer is completely free.

Our marketing strategy is to…

Build out our platform to allow members to embed Barkles debates anywhere around the web. We are also building a WordPress plugin and speaking with various journalists and media publications to encourage them to use our plugin to facilitate easier debates.

SUPPORTING IMAGES

SHARE THE LOVE

You can show your support for this outstanding Australian innovation in three ways:

  1. Tweet it: Top left of each page
  2. Trigger a Reaction: Facebook ‘Like’, etc.
  3. Leave a Comment: Anonymous comments excluded.

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