Debate.org's "coming soon" additions will be a good thing.

I will grant you your lack of knowledge of the workings of this site for your benefit. However, this does not excuse the inaccuracy of your responses. Having been here over three months, I can assure you that the quality of the site and it's members is deteriorating. In many cases, as I'm sure you will gather after looking over some debates, debaters have begun to show a more irresponsible side. Unless a large amount of debaters think this is a viable rebuttal, many rounds are littered with the phrase: "this round was forfeited because the debater did not post their next argument within the allotted time". To me, this shows a lack of enthusiasm and motive of many members. Also, you'll notice more and more immature, unintelligible answers if that debater did dane to show up. So while I can accept that there are very intelligent members here who do take this site seriously, it should also be accepted that there are vastly more here who do not. It is this crowd that concerns me. If I felt that the members here could handle these feature I would not have posted this debate. I do think some can, but its the second, larger, 'bad' group that makes it evident that the majority can not. That having been said, I'll now address your points: Likeness to social networks - WHile its true, as I stated, that this site has many qualities that are unique in and of themselves, it the members that will ultimately ruin it. As I said above, there is a minority of people whom I believe have the ability to manage these features in a mature way. Meaning, that whether or not this site is different, it will be transformed into another messy social network regardless if given the chance. These features give it that chance. That is all that's needed. Friends - Heart warming as your social experience is, there is a major flaw you've overlooked, being loyalty. Could you honestly tell me that when viewing a friend vs. anonymous opponent in any of your debate contests, that there is not a feeling of bias towards your companion. Can you really say that your not hoping your friend wins rather than the unknown opponent? If you can say that then you are a very exceptional person, however, you are not everyone else. Most people have a tendency to stick with what they like. They may be willing to taste hagus, but they'll still prefer a cheeseburger in the end. True, there is the chance that someone could vote the other way, but it's a very slim one. So minuscule in fact, it's barely worth consideration. Many people, even though they SHOULD vote on the debate, will often vote on either the topic they like or for an account they prefer. Because the threat is there, and has a much larger probability than it's contestant, it should be held in higher regard. The 'invite your friend' subject falls under here to. The site wants members to stay up. They knew this could be accomplished by debaters wanting free votes via friendship and placed that option there. People know their friends will vote for them, regardless of the quality of their argument. So friendship IS a factor, and a large one at that. Groups - This site is a competition. Like it or not, people would rather win their debates than take the after-school-special approach and lose but learn. Same in politics, and law, and anything else were legit debate is a factor. So too is it here, just not on such a grandiose scale. The groups would make both wins and loses illegitimate for the reason I mentioned in 'Friends'. The groups will probably have a consistency to vote for a fellow member or one that supports the cause. Also, arguments are not about education, that is simply a by-product. The art of argument is about stating opinions, and conveying them better than you opposition. The reason people post their arguments here is so that their opinions can be heard, and dwarf the reasons to the contrary. 'God is not real' 'Bio fuels are better than gas' 'War on terror should be stopped'. These are not subjects like you could be taught in a class, they are the views of people who want their voices heard and recognized. That is were the voting comes into play. A cheap win (illegitimate) takes that away from both sides, and this is my fear. Everyone here has the right to voice their opinions no matter how controversial the subject and be able to win on it. Groups will take away from that. As for conspiracies, I mean that, say the pro, could go to the group and ask for support. They could do this in two major ways: 1)voting (as I just said) and 2) information. Some people know more than others, its a fact of life. It could almost be viewed as cheating. A person not involved could divulge information pro did not know, that will crush con. This is unfair. Pro used a source outside himself. Had he found that information on his own, there would be no conflict. But the act is synonymous with whispering hints in a persons ear. Certainly something that would not be tolerated in a real debate, yes? This is what I meant. Forums - As I said before, this is debate.org, not discussion.com. If people which to create a place to just chat about something they can make discussion.com, but that is not the purpose of THIS site. Intelligent argument is. Also, as stated before, this is competitive. If you wish to be high and mighty then try to educate and preach, but it will not help your win ratio. Blogs - As a proven fact, a majority are proving to not be the intelligent genius's you view them to be. True, there are many here that do fit your whimsical description, but there are many, many more who do not. I see blogs as being one of the biggest things that will soil the nature of this site. Yes, as you said, it could be used for intelligence and philosophy, but I predict it will more often than not, be used for selfish bantering and gossip. Furthermore, philosophy debates have been tried in the earlier life of the site, if you look far enough back, but lately has subsided. It can work, but has mostly been warn out. Polls - All your reasons are the making of yet another social network. There are plenty of place, as I said before, where you can go and talk about your favorite things as though they hold any real interest to the internet community, but this website is not that siphon. These additions will not help this website, discourage growth, users being overly friendly with each other, and ultimately worse for Debate.org.