One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Will You 'Friend Out the Vote'? New Facebook App Tells You Which Friends Don't Regularly Vote
Friend Out the Vote logo
What happens when you take publicly available data and mix it with your Facebook friends? It could be a recipe for disaster between friends. The California Democratic Party on Monday released a new Facebook app that, with your permission, scours your list of friends and identifies those who are registered as Democrats but don't vote regularly, according to the LA Times. It then encourages you to talk to them about next week's election.
The app, Friend Out the Vote, was funded by Facebook's former chief privacy officer Chris Kelly, who made an unsuccessfully bid for California Attorney General during this summer's primary. Speaking of privacy, the party spokesperson told the Times the app acts in the same way direct mail is generated.
We gave it a try, and while it gave us a partial error, it did identify a handful of friends targeted as "occasional voters." One of them just moved here and in the past has lived in several countries and states. Another admitted they didn't vote in the June election, but has voted in all the rest. It also identified someone who lives in Chicago and hasn't lived in California.
What do you think about this method of getting out the vote?
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
