To increase user engagement, what about allowing users to carry out threaded discussions of their own in a part of the UI that is distinct from the main conversation?
Perhaps users should have to opt-in to seeing comments from the "crowd", and there should be a minimum amount of time the user has spent on the site (and discussions read) before they can comment. Also they'd have to receive a minimum number of upvotes for their comments before they were allowed to vote, etc. which would gamify it a bit.
Rather than fighting the echo chambers, you could use them to your advantage, by requiring users to pick a side they support in each topic and splitting the discussions into two camps. That way expert A could see popular comments in support of their position, and expert B could see comments which support them instead. They could even opt to see what the other camp was discussing, to make sure they weren't misapprehending the other side's position.
My other request is that you make the site work without JavaScript. People don't want your annoying pop-ups, and it should be possible to present text in a browser without running scripts. (Also it might be nice to have meaningful URLs, like Reddit has).
Perhaps users should have to opt-in to seeing comments from the "crowd", and there should be a minimum amount of time the user has spent on the site (and discussions read) before they can comment. Also they'd have to receive a minimum number of upvotes for their comments before they were allowed to vote, etc. which would gamify it a bit.
Rather than fighting the echo chambers, you could use them to your advantage, by requiring users to pick a side they support in each topic and splitting the discussions into two camps. That way expert A could see popular comments in support of their position, and expert B could see comments which support them instead. They could even opt to see what the other camp was discussing, to make sure they weren't misapprehending the other side's position.
My other request is that you make the site work without JavaScript. People don't want your annoying pop-ups, and it should be possible to present text in a browser without running scripts. (Also it might be nice to have meaningful URLs, like Reddit has).