What is Web Lab?

Web Lab is a New York-based non-profit think tank that encourages and supports innovation on the Web, with a special emphasis on developing the potential of the medium to bring people together to explore both personal and public issues in powerful, transforming ways. It was created on the premise that the Web can be more than an efficient place to find and buy commercial products or to access information on any topic under the sun. It is also an extremely powerful communications medium that provides unprecedented opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to connect with, and learn from, each other.

Web Lab was founded in the spring of 1997 by Marc Weiss, the creator of the groundbreaking public television series P.O.V. One of Web Lab's first projects was the Web Development Fund (WDF), which provided funding and support services for innovative sites proposed by independent producers. The first two rounds of the WDF were conducted in association with PBS ONLINE, which also hosted WDF sites.

Web Lab has been hailed for the groundbreaking model it developed for creating meaningful online dialogues. Using a new technique that The New York Times called "one of the most innovative ideas for creating value and relevance in online conversation,"(full story) Web Lab sets up simultaneous small discussion groups which avoid the verbal fistfights that often plague Internet discussions and instead encourage "dialogues across differences" - in-depth exchanges between people with varying backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Dialogue participants are encouraged to shape the direction of their conversations and develop a sense of ownership that is both powerful and unique among the Web's standard asynchronous dialogue practices.

Web Lab has received support from PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation and other private foundations. Web Lab is the operations program of Digital Innovations Group, a 501(c)(3) non-profit incorporated in the state of Delaware.