Mapping public opinion in SA

A new global communications platform called State, designed to link people via opinions rather than networks, comes to South Africa this month.

“With the general election, all eyes are on South Africa,” said State co-founder, Alex Asseily. As such, we want to make the State web platform and our latest mobile app for iPhone available to all South Africans so that they can debate the issues and see how voter sentiment is shaping up.

The State global opinion network is designed to give a voice to everyone. Often only the most popular, least tolerant or loudest get heard, leaving commenting online an unsatisfying task for others.

Connections are even harder to come by. The State.com web platform and iPhone app, now available for download in the App Store, change that dynamic.

State has made it easier for anyone to get their opinions heard and connect with others around the world who both share and oppose their views. One of States iPhone app’s features is a world map that shows global conversations unfolding in real time, plotting clusters of like-minded people, instantly uniting them around issues they care about.

Today there are thousands of opinions on State from more than 100 countries, and that is growing every day. With over 25-million topics covering a wide range of subjects from government and religion to tech, there’s something for everyone. Breaking news, like Nelson Mandela’s death, as well as events such as South Africa’s elections or even Game of Thrones – State your opinion and see what others are saying and who shares the same sentiment as you.

Opinions on State are organised by topic and hundreds of new topics are created every day. Each opinion on State is interactive: it generates instant feedback to the contributor, sparks conversation, relevant links and related topics. Social sharing of opinions to Facebook and Twitter is enabled through both the web and mobile versions of State. Insights that emerge from the global opinion network can be shared with companies, communities and organisations.

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