(AllHipHop News) The recently launched media lab known as 1-800-N0TH1NG introduced its new livestreaming platform BoutThat. The app allows players to pick any topic and challenge other players to a face-to-face debate.
Viewers of the “bouts” can vote for either player in real time. The winner is declared by collecting the most votes by the end of the debate.
“Millions of flame wars happen every day on the Internet – on social networks, comments sections, and forums, and all of us have watched,” says Matt Mason, head of 1-800-N0TH1NG. “But the way we argue online has been broken since day one. It’s like bare-knuckle fighting. It’s unregulated, it happens in spaces where it doesn’t belong, and is not pretty. However, it’s hard to look away.”
He continued, “We asked ourselves here at 1-800 if there was a better way for good people to disagree on the Internet. The answer is BoutThat.”
Initially, only three debates will be live on BoutThat at any one time in order to concentrate viewership around a small number of debates. Players will be able to unlock new rooms and create more debates as the audience grows.
Dubbed “the ultimate game of conversation,” BoutThat could provide an effective outlet for rappers looking to lyrically compete with each other and get immediate feedback from the public.
“It might be rap battles, it might be staring contests, it might be improv comedy,” adds Mason. “We’re looking forward to seeing what people do with this engine. There has never been anything quite like this in the market before, which incorporates two live streams with real-time feedback from viewers. It’s pushing the boundaries of this technology to create something that we hope changes culture for the better – which is exactly what 1-800-N0TH1NG is about.”
BoutThat is a free app currently only available on Apple’s App Store.