Concept Description

Did you agree? Slide here What if participating in politics was as easy as using a slider?

What if you saw the impact of your participation right away?

What if your friends joined in? Fire up political debate!

Politics might start to look different.

? ? hmm.. ? <> <> Shadow Election is a simple tool for evaluating political candidates

Users can rate candidate statements, view poll results and even cast a ‘virtual vote’ for their chosen candidate Content is sortable by campaign issue

Shadow Election is designed for social impact Engaging, shareable stories build communities of interest Empowering user experience encourages voting – online and on Election Day Democratized persuasion: users decide what content is important Non-partisan, level playing field

User-personalized stories about the most engaging political content creates a ‘sticky’ online experience. Sharing activates communities of interest within users’ social networks. Anonymized state- and nation-wide responses are shown on infographics, showing users where they stand in the larger debate. New content encourages re-evaluation. Shadow Election responds to swings in public opinion. Shareable stories build communities of interest

Unlike the long feedback cycles of traditional elections, impact of participation can be visualized immediately. The responsive user experience of Shadow Election engages the web generation, who are underrepresented in politics. While rating and voting is simple, cumulative use helps users make complex political decisions. Virtual political engagement encourages action on Election Day. Shadow Election reminds users to register and vote. Empowering user experience

Shadow Election draws content from a variety of sources and relies on users to decide what’s important. Traditionally, news organizations and campaigners decided what information people should see. In Shadow Election, user interactions and sharing drive attention to content. Political influence is decentralized and democratized. Democratized persuasion

No ties to political parties or news organizations. No campaign funding. Candidates receive equal exposure on the platform. Diverse content collected from campaigns, news media and unofficial sources is categorized by election issue. User-generated tagging will also create ‘folksonomies’, organizing content from the bottom up. Non-partisan, level playing field

Politics for social networks

We don’t claim that sharing produces ‘better’ voting decisions. Peer influence has been shown to undermine the ‘wisdom of crowds’ effect. But this can be offset by encouraging diverse and dissenting opinions – and deciding over time. Shadow Election encourages sharing in circles where trust is established and constructive debate is more likely. Infographics sensitize users to the diversity of opinions beyond their social networks. Is politics shareable?

I’m not sure. What do you think, friends? My vote. My ratings. Our ratings. Our votes. I agree. Users debate content within their social networks. Facebook friends can see each others’ ratings and votes on Shadow Election. Other users’ opinions are visible, but anonymized. Debate with friends on Facebook, see the big picture on Shadow Election

2012 is the right time for Shadow Election USA .

Video is going to be huge in 2012 “Any campaign that doesn’t recognize that the web is now central to winning the election is a dinosaur waiting to become extinct.” Andrew Rasiej, Personal Democracy Media Ben Jacobs, The Daily Beast “If television is a “nuclear bomb,” Web video is a laser for sending target messages to specific voters. Thirty percent of Americans don’t watch any live network television... but they’re still watching video.”

Shadow Election is about rating and sharing great election content, with a social mission Social Mission Viral Content Social Networks ✔ ✖ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

First released in 2011, Shadow Election achieved penetration of 30% of active Facebook users in the 2012 Finnish elections. Extremely low bounce rate attests to an engaging user experience. Shadow Election is rolling out to Kenya and the United States in 2012. Shadow Election is a ‘minimum viable service’ that has built significant traction and is ready to grow

After 2012.

Shadow Election will continue to provide equal opportunity for candidates in national, state and civic elections and caucuses. Shadow Election will remain free for use for candidates and voters. Institutions will be able to license a site-embeddable version of Shadow Election. Crowd participation on the platform will be extended and enhanced. We will explore the potential of enabling crowd-funding of political candidates. A level playing field for independent candidates

Currently filing for non-profit status in the United States. Software development services for Shadow Election USA will be purchased from Reality Creating Media Ltd, the inventors of Shadow Election. Shadow Election USA is funded through donations as a non-profit entity with the mission of promoting online democracy in the United States. About Shadow Election USA

Shadow Election USA is a US-registered non-profit organization. Our mission is to promote democracy, online. Executive Director: Kellie Hodge