We're building the next-generation platform for news and civic dialogue. We don't have all the answers, but here are our hypotheses:

‍Quality and context matter: We focus on one topic at a time to encourage in-depth discussions, and fact-check and curate the most thoughtful points from liberal and conservative media to serve as a starting point.

Humanizing matters: For each topic, there is a conversation prompt that encourages community members to share their thoughts and unique perspectives. We’re also working on ways to make member profiles more personable.

Incentives matter: Our proprietary ranking algorithm prioritizes cross-partisan engagement over other metrics. For example, a comment with 5 ‘Helpful’ votes from left-leaning members and 3 ‘Helpful’ votes from right-leaning members is ranked higher than a comment with 10 votes all from left-leaning members.

Business model matters: Ad-based revenue models inevitably lead to clickbait and chaos because the goal is to keep you scrolling endlessly. At The Flip Side, you are not the product. A small monthly (or annual) fee ensures that we never have to optimize for eyeballs or clicks.

Team matters: Content curation, moderation, and community building are fundamentally about social and political sensibilities first, and tech stack second. Our community is different because our leadership team is different from those that came before us.

We’re in the earliest stages of a long and exciting journey, and appreciate your participation and patience!

Here's what our current members have to say

“It's my favorite thing to read every morning.”

“I'm a newsletter editor at Philly's NPR station, and I would die to get my editorial team to produce work like this.”

"... gets me thinking more about right and wrong, instead of right and left."

“Keeps me grounded in reality and not just in my bubble.”

“I work in state government and my office sometimes shares the flip side so we know what to expect from constituents. So, thank you!”

“After loving the weekly recaps, I now LOVE these deep dives. A group of friends and I try to have very nuanced conversations about tough topics as practice for real world discussions and stuff like this is extremely helpful! We had a conversation around abortion a while back actually and could have used foundational information like this.”

“I teach Government to 11th & 12th graders and it’s my go to for their current event evaluations. Keep it up.”

“I teach principles of organizational communication and interpersonal communication to young military officers and I like to use the Flip Side to discuss audience attitudes toward various news topics. It’s very useful and it’s a nice, quick read of different sentiments.”

“I use this for my Civics and Constitutional Law course. The Flip Side does not only meet, but goes beyond expectations. Thank you!”

“I am so excited that you have implemented this Forum! I’ve been using it for the past few weeks, and it’s truly wonderful to be able to have these reasoned discussions with others who are as passionate about improving our systems as I am.”

“For the first time, I feel heard and not shouted down. It's refreshing to participate in dialogue that values all perspectives.”

“I'm impressed by the thoughtful intellectual comments.”

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Geoff Pallay
Editor-in-chief of Ballotpedia

“In a time where it is hard to cut through the noise, I enjoy opening up The Flip Side each morning to see an aggregate collection of various viewpoints on major issues.”

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Debra Mashek
Executive Director, Heterodox Academy

“In a polarized world flooded with soundbites and quick takes, The Flip Side delivers daily a much-needed dose of constructive engagement with views from across the ideological spectrum. The Flip Side demonstrates the value of multiple perspectives when trying to understand the nuances of our complex world.”

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Anthony Pennay
Chief Learning Officer, Ronald Reagan Foundation

“In his farewell address, President Reagan cited the need for ‘an informed patriotism.’ Too often, informed in the modern world means fully immersed in a bubble. For our democracy to thrive, the next generation of citizens needs to be able to critically examine issues from multiple points of view. The Flip Side is a quick, easy way to develop that habit, and get beyond the bubble.”

The Flip Side is on a mission to bridge the gap between liberals and conservatives.

Every day, our cross-partisan team combs through dozens of sources – left, right, and center. We focus on one topic and select the most thoughtful and well-articulated points to highlight in a 5-minute digest. While our newsletter is already making a tangible difference in people’s lives – helping them understand and connect with family, friends, or coworkers with whom they disagree – we always knew it was just the first step.

We’ve spent the past two years researching and speaking with engineers, designers, academics, and community moderators about how best to design an online community where meaningful discussions can take place. Our newly launched Forum uses human-centered design and a proprietary ranking algorithm to reward thoughtfulness and bipartisanship, rather than trolling or clickbait. Pioneering a new approach to news and user-generated content, we are not ‘just’ another platform, but rather curators of content and conversations.

A less divided future begins with all of us getting on the same page – literally.

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Here's what our current members have to say

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