7. Content is
sortable by
campaign issue
Users can rate candidate
statements, view poll
results
and even cast a
„virtual vote‟ for their
chosen candidate
8. 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
9. Shareable stories build communities of interest
● 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.
10. Empowering user experience
● 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.
11. Democratized persuasion
● 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.
12. Non-partisan, level playing field
● 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.
14. Is politics shareable?
● 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.
15. Debate with friends on Facebook,
see the big picture on Shadow Election
Facebook friends can see Other users‟ opinions are visible,
each others‟ ratings and but anonymized.
Users debate content within their votes on Shadow Election.
social networks.
I agree.
I‟m not sure.
My ratings.
My vote.
Our ratings.
What do you Our votes.
think, friends?
16. 2012 is the right time for
Shadow Election USA .
17. 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
“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.”
Ben Jacobs, The Daily Beast
18. Shadow Election is about rating and sharing
great election content, with a social mission
Social Mission Viral Content Social Networks
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19. Shadow Election is a „minimum viable service‟
● 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.
that has built significant traction
and is ready to grow
21. A level playing field for independent candidates
● 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.
22. About Shadow Election USA
● 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.
23. Shadow Election USA is a US-registered
non-profit organization. Our mission is
to promote democracy, online.
Executive Director: Kellie Hodge
