People's Court for an Internet Generation

Fighting with your significant other? Arguing with a friend, roommate, or co-worker? Who's right and who's wrong? Air out your differences anonymously while letting people of the world give you advice and make the decision on who should apologize and who can gloat.

Those few lines sum up a new website launched last week called Sidetaker.com.

Far too many divorces break ups, and separations happen over non-critical disputes. Over 50% of American marriages end in divorce. In a fight, each person has their side and is usually backed by their friends (on either side). Sidetracker.com creates a jury of anonymous peers to decide who is right or wrong in an argument, and then the bias is gone.

The site allows each "side" of a disagreement to anonymously present their argument and then the "jury" - basically anyone with an opinion - weighs in and votes. Nothing is binding but we can all use an arbiter to decide which deli makes the best sub sandwiches? Or if the party should serve beer and wine or offer a full open bar? Crunchy or creamy?

Another site playing off people's voyeuristic tendencies is Instantjury.com. A place where people can present their cases, with an online jury deciding the results.

Instantjury.com has seen cases involving a groom who slept with a bridesmaid, a boyfriend who leaves the toilet seat up, and roommates arguing about possessions.

The site currently has between 300 and 400 registered users, with three to four cases going at any one time. If you've got a case you need resolved, give InstantJury.com a try. It could be the only time you enjoy going to court.

One other site that is a variation on the others is Ask500People.com. The site is inspired by the James Surowiecki best-selling book called "The Wisdom of Crowds."  The book's premise is that diverse, decentralized people voting independently are better at predicting future events or trends than individuals, small groups or even domain experts.

There are tools for surveying groups of independent voters, but they're either slow, expensive or both. Ask500People is designed to gather input and opinion data in minutes instead of days, and to create a platform that other applications can integrate.