By Klaudia Balogh
Swipe left for no, swipe right for yes, but this time not because you want to match with the blue-eyed girl or the handsome guy on your screen.
With the Voter app, you can use the Tinder model to find the 2016 candidate of your dreams.
Swipe one way or the other whether you agree or disagree with a political view, such as subsidizing student loans, labeling GMO foods, increasing funding for renewable energy or requiring background checks to buy a gun.
According to a Census data from 2012, only 45 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 voted during the election, compared to 72 percent of Americans 65 and older.
Voting begins at the basic awareness level. The more the public knows about the parties and candidates, the more likely they are to make a decision as to which one they support.
Pew Research Center conducted a study during the summer of this year about the political interest and awareness of Millennials and found that only 26 percent names politics and government as one of the top three topics they are interested in, making them the group that’s the least interested in the subject.
Social media apps are out to change that. They are designed to capture Millenials’ attention quickly and educate them in a way that’s most convenient to them — through their smart phone.
Voter is a matchmaker for politics, or you can call it the Tinder of politics. The app brings up different questions about political views and based on whether you agree or disagree with them, by swiping left or right, it will show you a percentage how closely your views align with each party and candidate.
Founders Hunter Scarborough and Suneil Nyamathi say they created Voter to make political data more available and deliver it faster to the 18 to 29-year-old generation who is best approachable through their phone.
“According to Pew, 57 percent of 18 to 29 year olds get political news from social networking apps and nowhere else,” Scarborough said in an interview with GovFresh “The stage is primed to engage Millennials and younger generations on their turf.”
To make sure the data the app uses is accurate, Voter partners and gathers resources from organizations including GovTrack.us, the Sunlight Foundation, Google’s Civic API, OpenSecrets, and Project Votesmart.
“To ensure the highest level of accuracy, we hold politicians accountable to their actions, analyzing candidates’ voting records, public agenda, personal views, speeches and more,” the 25 year old Scarborough said to GovFresh.
Another company that takes politics to social media platforms is Brigade with Facebook’s co-founder Sean Parker being behind the wheel of its development.
The Brigade team wanted to start small with discussion tools that will engage users to talk about their political views, what they agree or disagree with, make survey questions, create groups that follow similar issues and keep up a conversation on hot topics and debates.
Through Brigade users can take a stand on their civic identity. CEO Matt Mahan told The Guardian, it “really comes down to ‘What you believe and care about?’ and ‘What have you done about those things?’”
Starting social media sites and apps that will trigger the political interest of Millennials has been a challenge.
Both Voter and Brigade aim to increase mass civic participation and bring politics to a level where users can not only see the different parties and ballots in a simple setup, but can also share their views on related subjects.
Citing a Gallup poll Scarborough said that 82 percent of Americans do not trust the news and other media when it comes to politics. And with that lack of trust in traditional sources of information, perhaps these new tools will democratize the way voters pick their candidates moving forward.
“When we were thinking about how to engage people in politics, most people say they don’t care about politics. They hate politicians,” Parker told TechCrunch. “Congressional approval ratings are at a historic low. Trust in government is at a historic low. From one point of view, the system is about as broken as it can be, but when we interview users, we find that everyone has an issue they care about or something that they want to change the world.”
Like this piece? Rise News just launched a few weeks ago and is only getting started. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with global news. Have a news tip? Send it to us- [email protected] (We can keep your identity hidden.)
Cover Photo Credit: Voter App/ Facebook
What Do You Think?
-
“A Complex Story”: Hillary Clinton Posts Late Night Apology On Facebook
In a latenight Facebook post, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized for her role in a deepening email scandal.
In the post, Clinton admitted that she should have used two email addresses during her time at the State Department-something that Colin Powell said he did during his time in the role.
Read Clinton’s full message below:
“I wanted you to hear this directly from me:
Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I’m sorry about it, and I take full responsibility.
It’s important for you to know a few key facts. My use of a personal email account was aboveboard and allowed under the State Department’s rules. Everyone I communicated with in government was aware of it. And nothing I ever sent or received was marked classified at the time.
As this process proceeds, I want to be as transparent as possible. That’s why I’ve provided all of my work emails to the government to be released to the public, and why I’ll be testifying in public in front of the Benghazi Committee later next month.
I know this is a complex story. I could have—and should have—done a better job answering questions earlier. I’m grateful for your support, and I’m not taking anything for granted.
I understand that you may have more questions, and I am going to work to keep answering them. If you want to read more, including my emails themselves, please go here:
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/emails/
Thank you,
Hillary”
Cover Photo Credit:Marc Nozell/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
What Do You Think?
-
Why Are All These People In Hong Kong Doing Crazy Things On Rooftops?
Recreational trespass, “rooftopping” or urban exploring is the exploration of any open or abandoned space.
Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the world.
Hence, it attracts a lot of explorers from all over the world to reach the climax in Hong Kong.
For rooftoppers worldwide, conquering buildings and breaking the rules are the main spirit of this activity, but for rooftoppers in Hong Kong, it’s much more than just a death defying stunt.
Here’s some reasons why they do it:
- To redefine their limit
For many rooftoppers, it’s the feeling of empowerment and being on top of the world that the adventure brings. By conquering their own fear, capture stunning images of uninterrupted views and turning these rooftops as their own personal playgrounds, they push themselves beyond own limit.
- To recharge from hectic city life
To rooftoppers, everyday is ordinary life — everything is so structured and you have to follow orders. Hence, they want to get away from that.
“Rooftopping is like a getaway from city life to me — Hong Kong is such a fast-paced city with so much pressure and noise,” well known Hong Kong rooftopper Daniel Lau said. “When I’m on a rooftop, everything slows down, you don’t hear anything but wind, all the rush from the ground became like slow-motion.”
- To explore the city’s landscape
Symmetry Heaven – Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal.
The world famous breathtaking skyline of the concrete jungle is a must-see for tourists.
But if you’ve lived here your whole life, you’d probably be bored of visting the same places at the exact same spots.
Rooftopping allows rooftoppers to appreciate Hong Kong from a whole new perspective and reconnect with the vibrant city which they consider as a home.
- To reclaim the urban space from big business
Photo Credit: Exthetics/ Screengrab (Youtube)
The cost of living and flat price in this dense vertical city of over seven million is among the highest in the world.
As a result, the majority of Hong Kong’s youth still live with their parents in their adulthood without adequate personal space.
Spaces hidden in the famous skyline thus becomes the only ones left to explore for free and sneaking onto rooftops has become a statement of reclaiming the city from big business.
“[The] Roof is for everyone. Pick a book, read on a crane, get some inspirations,” rooftopper William Cheng said.
5. Rooftopping for freedom and disobedience
The city’s young people are part of a generation who have grown up with the umbrella revolution, worsening economic prospects and increasing worries of eroding individual freedom.
Rooftoppers – like other youngsters- showcase their frustrations by celebrating disobedience.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
What Do You Think?
-
Beyond Viral: The Actually Touching Story Behind The Drunk Guy In The Barney Costume
Brandon Priest is an unassuming 23 year old. From Brunswick, GA, Priest works at a Ebay call center and is still a kid at heart who still loves to watch cartoons and does some cartoon animation as a hobby.
He’s in a local band named Midwayer too. And oh yeah, he also has a 4 year old daughter who takes up the rest of his time.
Trust me, this is important background info.
You see, Priest is a bit of a celebrity now- well at least an online celebrity. A photo of him has been circulating around the Internet close to light speed with thousands of shares on Facebook and other social media sites.
The only problem? Priest is in a Barney the Dinosaur costume and you have no that its him in there and you certainly don’t know the great life lesson that he learned by being goofy.
It just really went to show me how much you actually miss out on when you say no to opportunity and I think it was an amazing life lesson for myself.
Here’s our strangely poignant interview with Brandon Priest, the dude who dressed up as Barney and played pool at a Georgia bar.
Rise News: What is the story behind the viral photos?
Brandon Priest (Barney): Friday I had watched the Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man – the movie where he has to say yes to anything, and lately I hadn’t been getting out of the house at all. I had been just staying inside playing video games and turning down offers from hanging out with friends and the movie really reminded me how much I actually say no to things that might have ended up being fun so I basically made a post on facebook saying that I wanted to start saying yes to more crazy things and hanging out with more people that I wouldn’t normally hang out with.
Rise News: Why did you decide to dress up as Barney?
Barney: A friend of mine Mercedes actually immediately hit me up and said she had found a Barney outfit in her attic from her kids birthday party a couple years ago and asked if I would be down with wearing it around town and I just went for it haha.
I really enjoyed it. I spent the first part of the day just hugging kids and taking hundreds of pictures, riding around on the tour bike on St Simons island. I think I made a lot of people happy by just dressing up in a silly costume and that was awesome.
People kept buying me free shots and drinks when I hit up the bars and I ended up getting really drunk and some guys talked me into playing pool. I was so wasted I think I only managed to get one ball in (its also really hard to play pool when you’re in a suit that doesn’t have fingers).
Rise News: Did you post the photo on social media or how did it start to go viral?
Barney: I believe a guy named Kyle took the picture and put it on his reddit.
Rise News: What do you think about how viral it has gotten?
Barney: I had no idea I’d wake up the next morning and the picture would have 5 million views and all the facebook shares. So many sites and stuff have been hitting me up and I personally think its great. It just really went to show me how much you actually miss out on when you say no to opportunity and I think it was an amazing life lesson for myself.
Like this piece? Rise News just launched a few weeks ago and is only getting started. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with global news. Have a news tip? Send it to us- [email protected]
Photo Credits: Brandon Priest
What Do You Think?
