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What Kind of Political Monster Are You?
Position Monsters have arrived!
In addition to having your PositionDial help you figure out where you stand on today’s issues, we’re proud to announce a new feature that will visualise the positions you take.
We’ve launched Position Monsters for you to try in time for the general election this year. Check it out and let us know what you think!
How It Works
As you go along agreeing or disagreeing with policy positions on PositionDial, your monster will build before your eyes.
This is in addition to the more detailed results you’ll still be able to see on your PositionDial.
We created Position Monsters to help make engaging with politics fun and easy – especially for younger voters.
But unexpectedly when we got to the beta stage we found it wasn’t just younger voters who loved seeing their political beliefs visualised as a monster. So far we’re finding everyone, young and old, loves building up their Position Monster.
So head on over to Election 2017 on PositionDial to see what kind of political monster you are.
(And when you get your Election 2017 party matches – don’t forget to vote on the 8th June!)
Brand matching: live your values every day
We are really excited to have launched brand matching on PositionDial this month.
PositionDial is about exploring where you stand, seeing views from all sides, and living your values.
Brands are another type of ‘match’ you can now get in addition to your commentator, political party and politician matches.
Making it really easy to join the dots between where you stand and how you live your life.
Brand matching was presented at Bethnal Green Ventures demo day, after PositionDial completed its summer 2015 programme. You can read PositionDial’s profile on the BGV blog here – we will link to a video when available.
What is a brand PositionDial?
A brand’s PositionDial visually summarizes its activities, work practices and supply chain on matters ranging from animal welfare and workers’ conditions to environmental impact and use of chemicals.
To build a brand PositionDial our team curates independent certifications, labels, awards and media investigations about a brand / product’s behaviour and actions and relates them to ‘positions’ – like ‘products for people should not be tested on animals’.
For example we use sources like the Living Wage Foundation, Stonewall’s most LGBT-friendly workplaces, Carbon Disclosure Project, Oxfam Behind the Brands study, Davies Report on % of women on boards.
*PositionDial never shares personally identifiable user data for commercial purposes
The #bigppcquiz enables voters to match to candidates directly online for the first time
So far 300 pioneering General Election 2015 candidates from all parties, and several independents, have done the #bigppcquiz which in turn enables voters to match directly to candidates.
If you are a candidate, you just need to get your unique quiz link directly from us at PositionDial to take part. Please email mariam@positiondial.com for details.
We are directly inviting all PPCs (Prospective Parliamentary Candidates) via email and Twitter with thanks to the contact details provided on yournextmp.com but there are some we do not have, so please get in touch if you haven’t got your quiz link yet.
As a voter, you can see your candidate matches on your Election 2015 results page. And filter to your constituency to see how you match to candidates you can actually vote for:
Is ‘regulatory’ a better label (Position descriptor) than ‘authoritarian’ on PositionDial?
We often have a slightly different understanding of different terms.
Although Google, and it’s crowd-powered, trusted (by most) often top result, Wikipedia. … provides the see I told you or aha, you were wrong… oh yeah, moments. Removing much of the room for doubt…
But yet still certain words provoke responses. Differences of understanding, and positive or negative connotations.
Like “authoritarian”.
An example PositionDial including the ‘authoritarian’ Position descriptor
As outlined in our ‘axis ethos’ – on PositionDial, our aim is ‘labels’ or Position descriptors which are the clearest to understand, and at the same time the least offensive to those whose Positions fall into that ‘side.’
We have also been clear, that Position descriptors are up for questioning, debate, improvement when needed.
Not least because, as the late great Ciborra said- in categories, and particularly – between categories – there is suffering (yes, in relation to information systems).
So as we’ve had a few tweets on this particular axis / label lately. And it has been one I’ve wondered about previously, anyway, and have been surprised we haven’t had more feedback on. It seems well worth delving into at this juncture. (Not least as, with the general election fast approaching, avoiding discomfort to our users, political parties and indeed political candidates at this crucial time is high priority).
Bearing in mind, first of all, we never label a side as ‘good‘. But neither, do we want to label a side, or have a label that is seen to be, ‘bad‘.
So, to explore these comments and challenges, and the alternative proposed. I will ask here three questions:
- Does authoritarian mean control? (The semantic question)
- Is authoritarian pejorative / offensive? (The palatability question)
- Is the alternative proposed (regulatory) better?
1 Does authoritarian mean control?
First of all, semantically, historically, does the word authoritarian mean control? Are we using it correctly?
According to dictionary.com – the word dates back to 1862 – meaning “favoring imposed order over freedom.”
According to the “The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles” (which my late Grandad once conveniently (kindly) gave to me – (unsolicited!) … (and don’t be fooled by the ‘Shorter’ – it’s in two massive chunky hardback tomes).
Authoritarian means:
And authority means:
So in answer to the first question. Authoritarian does mean control and regulation. It is correct and accurate, semantically, logically, to use authoritarian in the way we are using it on the PositionDial.
2 Is authoritarian pejorative / offensive? (The palatability question)
Does the word authoritarian provoke offense? When labelled so? To some, yes. As shown above. Which is of course something we seek to avoid.
It is important here, now, with this, and any other similar such problems with labels we might have in future, to consider very carefully. Even, especially, if only a minority are affected. Because to have all the different shades of grey of positions and views brought together and explored, genuinely, differing perspectives must not be excluded, irritated or offended wherever possible.
3 Is the alternative proposed (regulatory) better?
The alternative proposed is ‘regulatory’.
- So instead of using authoritarian / libertarian as our axis.
- We would use regulatory / libertarian instead.
(Keeping libertarian as, as yet, people understand it, and no one has yet been offended by it, and non-regulatory sounds more convoluted- we try to avoid double-barrels where possible).
How do we define better?
For axis labels / position descriptors, we define better as follows:
a) Just as accurate, if not more so,
b) Less offensive (we have already seen that regulatory is less offensive to some, above – so won’t go into this again)
c) Just as understandable, if not more so
a) Context by context accuracy
To explore this, it’s necessary to delve into whether it makes sense to describe all possible positions, in context, as regulatory instead of authoritarian.
For economic contexts.
If we set financial or other penalties on industrial activity deemed environmentally harmful.
This is regulation.
It is controlling of behaviour by industry.
It is therefore authoritarian.
It is also regulatory.
For social contexts.
We set financial or other penalties on drug related activity, eg the possession of drugs for personal use.
This is legislation.
It is controlling of behaviour by individuals.
It is therefore authoritarian.
It is also regulatory.
A broader civil liberties example – we believe as a society (or at least our government) that we should not speak “hateful speech.” To be specific (getting more fictional here for the sake of clarity, please bear with) … if you call me anything in the animal kingdom (dog, pig, rabbit) this is hate.
The government sets financial or other penalties on calling each other animals.
This is regulation / legislation.
It is controlling of behaviour by individuals.
It is therefore authoritarian.
It is also regulatory.
And finally, to give another example, which becomes more and more important in this online age – some believe that the government should not be monitoring us.
The government monitors what we write, say, (think..? ;)) in order to protect us.
When we are free. No one is watching or listening to us.
When we are controlled. It is that there is regulation, determining we should be watched, and monitored. So that extremism can be identified before it harms our society or system.
It is therefore authoritarian.
It is also regulatory (underpinned by government rules and powers to watch us).
So for all applicable contexts explored here ‘regulatory’ does work as a label. Semantically.
What about a Position on having more police on the streets? Can we use ‘regulatory’ then?
Well, at a push. It doesn’t read as neat as authoritarian, but the police are there to enforce legislation and regulation after all, so it does sort of work.
c) Is ‘regulatory’ just as understandable, if not more so?
When someone uses PositionDial. Especially for the first time. Will they ‘get’ what regulatory means?
Will seeing that word, as their ‘Position descriptor’ or label, be any less understandable than seeing the word authoritarian?
Arguably, the word authoritarian is in more common use. It is used in political discourse more. It appears more commonly on political science tests and quizzes and cool stuff like the Political Compass.
Getting it wrong on get-ability
This regulatory vs authoritarian question reminds me of similar wranglings around the eco-friendly / eco- sceptic axis.
Vs the more accurate in some cases – manmade vs natural axis.
In case this isn’t obvious, this came about due to people (well, one of our trusted advisers) saying that eco-friendly vs eco-sceptic isn’t a fair label. That it doesn’t work for him.
That he cares about the environment – about conservation for example, but just doesn’t believe in manmade climate change.
So we started using manmade vs natural as an axis instead for the climate change topic.
Trouble is. No one “got it.”
“What is manmade?” We’ve added the answer to the FAQ. The least ideal ‘resolution!’
Is authoritarian to regulatory as big a leap? Is the understandability factor as problematic?
Probably not.
But still.
Understandabilty is a very important factor.
Because with PositionDial we seek to engage not just political animals, but the politically curious: those who are not sure where they stand, and even less sure where politicians, who want their vote, stand.
So we must not make decisions / change Position descriptors based around semantic sensitivities at a highly intellectual level, at the expense of appealing to, and being used, and understood by, and empowering, those who are not yet as politically engaged and studied.
In summary
So to round up –
- “Regulatory” is just as appropriate / accurate as authoritarian to be used as a position descriptor
- Regulatory can be less offensive to some than using authoritarian
- The only remaining concern is, is it as understandable to PositionDial users, new and existing
Tell us your view: what works better. For you, and everyone?
There can be no better judge than you, the crowd, on this.
- Do you understand regulatory as well as you understand authoritarian? Even as a label seen quickly / out of context? On a PositionDial?
Here’s a qualitative poll (yup, it’s a thing, or it is now). Please comment below and on Twitter whether we should update authoritarian / libertarian to regulatory / libertarian.
We’re listening. And will act accordingly. And keep this question open to feedback ad infinitum. Look forward to hearing from you.
Match to MP PositionDial dissolved until after the election
Parliament officially dissolved on Monday, and we’re taking down our match to MP feature until after the election.
It’s been one of our most popular features, and our first ‘match’ experience, with great thanks to My Society’s theyworkforyou – for allowing us to Position their vote summary data from MP’s real votes in parliament.
We’ve had a range of reactions to ‘Match to MP.’ Some people are of course keen on scrutinising the record of their own MP.
Most are fascinated by their top matches, even going as far as to say “I’m Hyell Williams, never heard of him.”
So we’re introducing you to an MP, from miles away, who is best representing where you stand.
I’ve been asked, what’s the point of knowing this?
We’ve all heard the dire voting stats and polls about a lack of trust in politicians, and how little there is to choose between them.
What ‘Match to MP PositionDial’ has done is show that there is real diversity in parliament, and that you can find genuine matches on many issues.
Even though you might not agree on everything all the time, it’s well worth knowing that your perspective is actually being put forward at the highest level, and who by.
And not just to know. We introduced a ‘tweet your top match’ a little while ago – giving you an opportunity to publicly thank the representative(s) best standing up for what you believe in. So even if you don’t live near them, and can’t vote for them, you can give some public support.
Everyone’s a critic. And MPs get a lot of that. By showing who matches, there’s a chance to balance that by sending some positive vibes towards those who line up with you. That’s got to be win:win.
Match to MP will relaunch after the UK General Election on May 7th 2015.
The 2015 Budget and #GE2015 – where do you stand?
Getting your Election 2015 PositionDial is already one of the most popular activities on PositionDial.
What’s even more exciting in these times of couldn’t give a sh*t disenchantment, 43% of people not intending to vote say using PositionDial has made them more likely to do so.
Anyway, we promised we’d let you know if we add any Election 2015 Positions, so you can check back how you match to parties as we move toward the election.
Embed from Getty ImagesWell we’ve added in a Budget 2015 Position – so if you’ve already got your Election 2015 PositionDial but want to see how you stack up against the parties on this, just respond here and then go and see how your matches line up.
Polls are saying the budget made little difference. But if you’ve got a Position on it, see how it stacks up easily here.
And don’t forget to share!
Your Election 2015 PositionDial: Do you care?
Do you care who wins in the upcoming General Election?
According to a study released over the weekend by BBC Newsbeat – 60% of young people do – but less than half are registered to vote.
There’s still time, the deadline to register is 20th April and it takes five minutes.
Where do you stand, and who matches?
So far 20% of active visitors to PositionDial are getting their Election 2015 PositionDial – which gives you your top party matches.
Whether or not you intend to vote, it’s well worth seeing who’s most in line with you…
You might be surprised who you get… or pleased enough to share 🙂
A shinier PositionDial..
Today we launch a newly redesigned PositionDial – as we start preparing for the impending UK General election.
More on that from us here soon, but in the meantime, please take the time to browse around and…
- Tell us if you spot any bugs
- Tell us what you think, generally,
- Check out our new antibod feature (see the opposite to your worldview) – you get the best out of this if you sign-in.
In case you’ve already forgotten what it was like before –
PositionDial and #Innotech2014: Legislating for LulzSec: privacy, data & policy
Tomorrow the much anticipated Innotech Summit takes place – on legislating for LulzSec: privacy, data & policy. Still time to get tickets!
We’re proudly partnering with Innotech to help everyone engage on key issues covered by the Summit, first of all online voting.
You can work out where you stand via an embedded PositionDial experience (including videos) over on the Innotech website. (And don’t forget to register with us to store and keep building your PositionDial).
Where do you stand on online voting? Find out with an amazing interactive experience w/ @PositionDial http://t.co/wN0FXo2t7a #innotechBAFTA
— InnotechSummit (@InnotechSummit) October 2, 2014
More about the #Innotech2014 event
Tomorrow’s Innotech Summit will host a discussion focusing on cybercrime, digital over-skill, the ethics of hacking, the role of government in legalising and prosecuting, and what rights companies have to own and use our personal data. Speakers will include:
- Dr Jamie Saunders, Director of the National Cyber Crime Unit at the National Crime Agency
- Jake Davis, a former hacker who was part of the Internet group Anonymous
- Russ Shaw, the founder of London Tech Advocates
- Lord Alexander Carlile, Liberal Democrat in the House of Lords and one of Britain’s top legal expert
- The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will also give a short address to the summit
Jennifer Arcuri, founder of the Innotech Summit said “This latest Innotech Summit provides us with a unique opportunity to bring together policy makers and tech entrepreneurs to discuss some of the most pressing issues which face the digital economy.”
Watch this space for more on our collaboration with Innotech.
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