Innovative alternatives to discussion boards

Do you know about new unique ideas how discussion boards can be organized in the modern web? How data and elements can be visually and structurally organized? I am sure it's not the only good way to go from top with the question title to bottom.with comments. May be there are star based realizations where the main idea is in the center and different opinions go to different directions. I am just trying to find new ways for presenting discussions. I have some ideas about this and would like to share them with you if it's interesting you. Thanks.