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With the current political season reaching its peak, there are a number of opinion-related sites that have taken advantage of the debating nature of an election year, even if the debates aren't about political issues. Some sites like rivals4ever are good places for people to get worked up and simply express their opinion. Other sites, like youfig, have larger goals of collecting data, running metrics and turning over the information for use in validated research.
But when it's all said and done, I'm still wrapping my head around the larger purpose and potential for such opinion sites, especially when there's no immediately apparent plans for using the data for research purposes. After checking out the recently launched WhereIStand website, I don't feel any differently about the niche for opinion sites, but I'm interested to see how the company plans on using its particular format for the purpose of collecting public opinions about certain topics.
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As the name indicates, WhereIStand lets you express your thoughts on a given issue, and from there you can gain perspective by placing yourself (or any other user) in a point of comparison. There's also the inclusion of public figures' opinions, which presents WhereIStand's hope of creating a hybrid of opinions for any given topic. This concept is somewhat similar to BigThink, but as a startup, WhereIStand must rely on users to seek out evidence of public figures' opinions, instead of being able to get their opinions in a more direct manner.
This particular reliance on the user spreads beyond the collection of evidence for public figures' opinions. From there, the community members must collectively review and agree on the evidence presented (somewhat like a wiki mentality), and the users must also provide the topics, feedback and opinions of their own. Once you've got some bookmarked items or stances of your own, you can compare yourself to others, on any topic. You can do this with other users, and public figures as well.