The questions people actually ask.

One-to-one conversations with someone in your community who sees the big questions differently — matched thoughtfully, scheduled for you, about an hour over video, guided by a light structure so no one has to play moderator.

BetweenUS Forum is YPO Democracy Group’s community on BetweenUS Forum, an independent, member-built platform. The sponsoring organization hosts its community here but does not operate the service; its organizers administer membership and matching rounds without ever seeing your political viewpoint or your individual feedback. The Terms of Use spell out exactly who provides what.

Membership is by invitation through your community — each community decides who belongs to it. If you’re part of the sponsoring organization’s wider community and can’t get in, your community’s organizers can add you.

You tell us the topics you care about and, optionally, where you sit politically. We pair people for difference in viewpoint and common ground on topic, in rounds curated by the program team. Your answers shape the match; they’re never shown to the person you meet.

No. Your political viewpoint is used only to create a balanced match and is never shown to your match, your community’s organizers, or your sponsor organization. Details in the Privacy Policy.

No. No audio, video, or transcripts — ever. The system notes only that the conversation happened. The full set of commitments is on the Confidentiality & Conduct page.

Yes. There’s a chat in the call for passing a link, a name, or a spelling without breaking the conversation to say it out loud. It works the same way the conversation does: messages stay in the room and disappear when the call ends. Nothing is stored, and the confidentiality commitment covers what’s typed there as much as what’s said.

Decline it — no explanation needed. From your conversation page, choose “Decline and get rematched”: you go back into the pool for the next round, and your match is told the conversation is off, never why.

Your community’s organizers see the membership basics they need to run the program — names, emails, topics, scheduling — but never your political viewpoint or your individual feedback. The organization’s reporting is aggregate only: participation and completion numbers, with small groups suppressed so nothing about you is inferable.

Because the people best equipped to talk across political difference had mostly stopped trying. The story of why we built it, The Conversation We’ve Stopped Having, explains where the idea came from and what happened when members tried it.

About an hour for the conversation, plus two minutes to sign up. Scheduling fits around you: pick a suggested time or propose your own, and reschedule from your conversation page if life happens.

No. It’s optional, and most things work the same without it: you and your match pick a time by hand and we email you the link and a reminder. If you do connect, we only propose times you’re actually free and we add the conversation to your calendar for you. We can see whether you’re busy or free, never event names or details. The edit permission your calendar asks about is used only to add the conversation and remove it if it’s canceled. You can disconnect any time from your conversation page.

You can pause matching any time from your profile — you’ll stay a member but sit out the rounds. To leave entirely, use “Delete my account” at the bottom of your profile: your profile, answers and sign-in are removed for good, and we email you a confirmation. Conversations you had stay in your partners’ history without your name. You can also email privacy@betweenusforum.org (see “Your rights” in the Privacy Policy).