Members of a virtual community can interact via software interfaces to conduct on-going conversations on topics of interest.
On a global scale, and with possibly millions of participants in a virtual community, it is vital that information be meaningfully consolidated, or pruned (if found unhelpful) in order to keep the discourse focused and productive.
Very little has been done in the area of computer-moderated, structured discourse support. This latter category goes beyond computer-mediated to actually include an intelligent moderator assistant. Such a facility may allow communities of interested parties to conduct true peer-to-peer collaborative, deliberative discourse without the time consuming and burdensome need for human moderators.