Silicon Valley billionaire and Napster co-founder Sean Parker has announced he’s moving into politics with a new social media network platform called Brigade Media, which will act as a sort of LinkedIn for civic life and political engagement via Facebook.
Parker, who was formerly the president of social-media networking giant Facebook, has said he wants to close the massive gap he sees between the high-tech community and the political world of campaigns, according to Politico. He hopes his new venture, reportedly set to launch in 2015, will help the public become better-equipped to make informed decisions when voting and engaging in the political process through the interactive forum.
“There’s so little awareness and so little knowledge about who’s in these races, or what these elected officials even do,” Parker said. “It doesn’t take much to tip the scales in these races one way or the other,” he said noting the susceptibility of local races to new technologies such as Brigade which could be at the fore in this movement.
Parker mentioned his intent to get more people involved in local races nationwide, where just a few thousand votes can make all the difference, Politico notes. California experienced the lowest voter turnout in the state’s history on the June 3 primary elections, with just 18.3% of registered voters casting their ballots.
Brigade Media is reportedly acquiring a controlling stake in Philotic, which owns the Facebook app and online advocacy platform Causes which will be shut down as a result of the acquisition, writes Politico. Joining Parker’s team will be Causes CEO Matt Mahan, who says the company will “re-energize our democracy.”
Parker says Brigade will be a nonpartisan, consumer-facing network. He has expressed his interests in the 2014 races – according to Politico, specifically in former Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He also held a fundraiser for California State Attorney General Kamala D. Harris in April. Both political figures are members of the Democratic Party.
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