Anyone looking for a project?

[cbc58]

i have an idea to unite all voters and am looking for some help.

the idea revolves around allowing voters to receive information on issues that effect them (both locally and nationally), and where they can vote (not officially vote - but state their opinion in a mock vote - like signing a petition), and aggregate all this information and deliver it to elected officials and the media.

i think one of the reasons average voters feel they can't make a difference is that their voice can not be heard. this would aggregate voices and get more people involved in the political process. it would also provide an independent public record that politicians can not escape from.

here is a real world example of what i have in mind:

you live in NYC. some type of legislation comes up that will affect you... but before you have never really known what is going on. you would sign up for this free service and receive an email stating what is happening and being proposed in a non-biased fashion (along with everyone else), and then you could state your opinion by voting for or against it or contacting your elected officials for more information. all these votes would be tabulated and presented on the web and on paper to the appropriate parties. this way... voters can be heard and people can cut through all the hype and positioning presented by the political parties.

same with national issues.

lots of possibilities..... maybe advertiser supported or something.

anyone want to help get this going or brainstorm?

[Jordan]

That's a really good idea, but the problem isn't getting the information out or whose vote counts and when. The problem is how you get information out to apathetic people and how to get those apathetic people to take action.

[specsaregood]

That's a really good idea, but the problem isn't getting the information out or whose vote counts and when. The problem is how you get information out to apathetic people and how to get those apathetic people to take action.

embed the information in images of hot chicks and hot dudes?;)

[cbc58]

That's a really good idea, but the problem isn't getting the information out or whose vote counts and when. The problem is how you get information out to apathetic people and how to get those apathetic people to take action.

That's the whole problem... most people are too lazy to put in the effort to go learn what's going on and then take the next step and do something about it.

That's what this would do - inform people proactively instead of having them act reactively, and then give them a method of having their voice heard in unision. I really think that people want to do something about the problems going on but don't know how to go about it. Plus - the media distorts things and those with money always seem to drown out the rest.

This may be an altruistic endeavor but I'd sure like to try and do it cause it just might work.

[Jordan]

That's the whole problem... most people are too lazy to put in the effort to go learn what's going on and then take the next step and do something about it.

That's what this would do - inform people proactively instead of having them act reactively, and then give them a method of having their voice heard in unision. I really think that people want to do something about the problems going on but don't know how to go about it. Plus - the media distorts things and those with money always seem to drown out the rest.

This may be an altruistic endeavor but I'd sure like to try and do it cause it just might work.

My post was in no way meant to hinder your efforts. I've often sought out information on state and local level legislation, but in most cases there was very little information other than the 95890254 pages of legalese.

In my opinion, this would be best built on already popular platforms where people have an attraction to that very platform. The iPhone would be perfect.

The best part about iPhone apps is that they attract a lot of attention. If, should this take off, you have a number of people using it, you'd get plenty of free press for it.

In it you could have a summary of the bill, the key pieces of it, then a button that when pressed connects you to your representative's office at which point you could speak your mind.

Of course, gathering all the data/legislation and programming it would be very time consuming. While I can't program, I'd be more than happy to input legislation and help with content creation.

[cbc58]

tks for the offer. i will contact you if i get anywhere with this. personally i think it could become the basis for a sound business model generating ad revenue.. possilby quite profitable.

if anyone wants to brainstorm on this please send me a PM. tks.