Hacktivism Intent – EthanC
The Accountability extension would be an add-on for Google Chrome and other web browsers that will pop-up once a day when you start your web browser that keeps track of what your representatives, from a local to national level, have voted on recently, what they’re going to be voting on in the near future, and how best to contact them, with relevant links to news stories that pertain to particular issues.
Finding the news can be hard- where do I go? Do I trust this source? Why aren’t they giving me the sources? What are my representatives actually voting on? Just trying to find the information can be a frustrating and time-consuming process, and with everything we have going on in our day to day lives, it can be difficult to find the time, and it’s easy to simply forget about.
The Accountability add-on to your web browser would try to simplify that process by giving you a quick-rundown of the facts each day without having to go searching. Now more than ever, access to information is vitally important, and some people, myself included, are feeling outright exhausted from trying to keep up with everything. This add-on would allow you to stay informed on how your representatives are representing you without making you search for anything at all! It could even create reminders for you to contact your representative if you’re busy at the moment, but don’t want to forget.
The convenience is the most important aspect- there are already websites that keep track of what your representatives vote on, although it is usually at a state/national level, but what would make this browser add-on unique is that you wouldn’t have to deliberately search for the information- it would be right there, waiting for you when you get on your computer!
5 thoughts on “Hacktivism Intent – EthanC”
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I, like yourself, am interested in politics and love reading up on the latest changes and whats happening across the globe. A problem I also run into is misinformation and the fact that there is simply SO MUCH information to take in a keep track of. This idea of yours is something that I think would be useful even further than simply tracking local representatives. I think that this would be interesting to see if other peers have rated certain sites and news as trustworthy and also perhaps a cool feature would be the ability to have certain articles that relate to the one your reading, say ones that show how certain things unfolded, say fact-checkers that are built in.
If this becomes reality I can see this being a heavily used tool, one for the convenience of a built in chrome extension, which is what all the cool kids use these days, as well as the fact that it can be tailored to both left and right sided politics, a very useful idea indeed.
Concept:
The concept itself is incredibly sound, and represents a many-to-many issue which is quite effectively addressed with this piece of software. It is not a project which would particular interest me, largely due to the fact that being uninformed GREATLY reduces the amount of stress in my day-to-day life. I can be an informed-rebel after I ensure I make it through college without a mental breakdown, but the application of this proposed addon would certainly bring a much needed supplement to news in a direct fashion. It grants the user to form their own opinions over the content, rather than already having that opinion shoved down their throat by bias news-sources.
Design:
The design as is seems a little bit more intrusive then I would like, but overall it’s very clear and easy to understand. The text is clear, and the formatting is consistent: it would be something which would be readily comprehensive on a day-to-day basis.
Technology:
Tech used would obviously be limited almost exclusively to software, with the hardware being devoted only to server-side management (which, to be honest, could also be done through a third-party client to avoid needing to involve hardware at all), so the cost would be reasonably low. Renting server space would probably eat up the majority of the budget, with money that may need to be devoted to the application process to have the addon officially ratified by Google (if there is such a cost). The voting itself should be public data, and can be pooled from a communal database and then restructured into the current format. No costs there!
Audience:
This appeals to people actively seeking to be informed in an unbiased manner, and in an immediate fashion. This accounts for a majority of our voters, and this applications use would be heightened around election-time to help base judgments off of previous actions. Overall this would be an extremely effective political-application for your daily user.
Creativity:
This is a thoughtful project, despite the simple idea. It brings forward the news on a high-traffic media service (chrome), and has the potential to manifest itself in practically any way for your daily-chrome user. Overall, it’s a fantastic idea! Well done!
Hello Ethan,
I think that your Accountability chrome extension is a great idea. In todays day and age it can be very challenging for one (especially one who doesn’t know much about politics, yet wants to be informed) to find real news without dramatic spin of what is actually happening right now. I think that this extension would be a great way of helping people who would like to ease their way into politics. It would be even better to expand the view from just what your representatives are voting on to all important news, therefore providing an easy, trustworthy and accurate news platform.
Concept:
I’m inclined to think this is indeed a many-to-many solution on the issue of political transparency. (inclined to think because while it doesn’t sound like there would be direct user input into the extension, the output would be to as many people that have it installed, and the input it stems from would be some kind of aggregated data from many sources). In this way, I think it’s interesting in that it makes these politicians and political news involving them much more “real”; you’re notified of their authoritative actions in near real time in a clear and concise manner.
Design:
At a glance, it’s sufficient, which is all something like this should be (to me). Again, clarity and succinctness in this kind of info is best. The less obtrusive it is over anything else, the better. If anything, only allow for more detail upon active interaction with the user (like the extension can “show more” or go to a dedicated webpage with more details on the people and news involved).
Technology:
There’s perhaps no better technology for relaying this info nowadays. With the prevalence of smartphones and personal computers in lots of work, education, and casual environments, we’re often closer to the internet than we are a TV or a newstand. Getting into specifics, however, this is only proposed as a Google Chrome extension. A lot of people use Chrome as their preferred browser but not everyone, so the audience is limited to the combined audiences of whichever browsers you can make this for.
Audience:
As above, anyone who uses Chrome. More specifically, anyone who uses Chrome and cares about the decisions their legislators or other political authorities over them are making.
Creativity:
As someone who isn’t that politically engaged, I actually really like this idea. It’s on the level of activity and locality that I would feel more personally engaged with, without having to sift through scattered and unclear reports from elsewhere in any format. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s automatic, and it just gets to the point. Certainly something I would use…
…if I used Chrome.
I really enjoyed this idea. I do agree that the problem of people not being aware of their sources and the problem of people not knowing what they are voting for are big ones. I really like the part of it tells you the news of your local politician I think this is a very good 1-1 solution to these problems. I think if you were to develop this more you could have a comparison for democrats and republicans so that people are seeing what the other party believes in or what their news is as well. I feel this wouldn’t cost much to operate and this could be an easy solution for people on their computer looking for reliable news about the people they are voting for.