The ‘Elyze’ App: French youth’s quest to find ‘the one’
Image Credit: Twitter, @FrancoisMari1
Read the French version of this article here.
‘Elyze’, a play on the word Elysée, the official residence of the French President, is the latest phenomenon to take French media by storm. It is an app with the aim of finding your ‘perfect’ candidate to vote for in the upcoming French presidential elections on the 10th April. Media has dubbed it the ‘Tinder for politics’ since the app follows the famous dating app’s configuration. A user is shown a proposition and is asked to ‘swipe’ right if they agree with the proposition and left if they disagree. As each argument is shown, the app offers a short explanation tab for each topic and the option to pass instead of agreeing or disagreeing. The propositions range from environmental, social and educational policies to economical, defence and international policies. They represent the ideas of the 15 candidates to the elections. Once the user has swiped on a few propositions, the algorithm accordingly determines which candidate they have ‘matched’ with, and provides a ranking of all politicians based on the answers. The app also allows you to view all the candidates and their manifestos with propositions organised by theme in a separate section. ‘Elyze’ was released on the 2nd January, was number 1 of the French App store and now has over 2 million users.
The app was created by two respectively 22 and 19 year-old students, Grégoire Cazcarra and François Mari, with the simple aim of sparking interest in the upcoming elections and inciting young people to vote. A recent Ifop poll revealed that 59% of 18-30-year-olds do not plan to vote in the first round of the upcoming election. Faced with this fact, the two students created ‘Elyze’ to try and bridge the gap that exists in politics with the younger generation of voters. Cazcarra states that Elyze was created to convince citizens to vote, no matter what their political affiliations and regardless of background and political sensitivity. It addresses the problem of the youth’s detachment from social issues and presidential elections that many candidates have attempted, but failed to tackle. In contrast, Elyze uses the familiar and attractive ‘swiping’ technique that forms part of our generation’s codes, thus managing to capture their attention. By creating an entirely ad-free and non-partisan app, Cazcarra and Mari offer a breath of fresh air in what is a saturated media world where users are fed on fake news and fruitless political debates.
I think that many people of my generation have a distanced and, at times, critical relationship with politics. Many people do not vote because they are under the impression that politics does not have an impact on their daily lives, or that it will not improve their future or that their vote will not change anything. There is also, sometimes, a feeling that no candidate is worthy of a vote. My generation is stereotypically portrayed as being disillusioned with politicians. I am no exception to this.
However, as a person who has a deep interest in politics and international relations, I always find myself hopeful that things can change. As a French citizen living abroad, I feel, to a certain extent, removed from French politics and struggle to find the information I need to make an intelligent decision on who to vote for. These elections will be the first French presidential elections I am able to vote in. I therefore place significant importance in them. Personally, this app is what I have been looking for in politics.
There is something deeply French in ‘Elyze’ and the premise behind it. France is a very patriotic country; values are placed front and centre in presidential campaigns. However, many citizens are disillusioned and many of my generation associate this with the (not always interesting) ‘moral and civic education’ classes taught at school. I can still remember the Wednesday afternoons spent in a dreary classroom endlessly discussing the meaning behind the emblematic national motto ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’. However, I believe, even if against my better judgement, that it has instilled in me a sense a citizenship that I seem to return to time and time again.
The app is attempting to shine a different light on politics. By its simplicity and gamification, it is attracting many young people who would otherwise show no interest in politics. With a short attention span, we are more inclined to engage with simplified propositions that can be understood in a few seconds rather than to read manifestos in detail. It might seem like a bleak and judgemental vision, but it is the truth and I am the first to confess to it. The open accessibility of the app and its intuitiveness are attractive. Of course, the sceptic in me has wondered to what extent the app can be trusted. In this day and age, can anything truly be neutral? The app came under fire because, where a tie arose between candidates, it was found that Macron would always be put first in the user’s ranking. However, ties were later resolved by ranking in alphabetical order and for the candidates to be placed equally first.
The code for the app has also be published in open source so as to allow a more transparent and honest relationship between the creators and the users. Data concerns have also been raised over the collection of age, gender and willingness or not to vote prompted by the app when first downloaded. In order to remedy this, the function was removed from the app and no personal information is being stored. Naturally, data is still being stored concerning which candidates are placing first more consistently and what propositions are more or less popular. Cazcarra assures that the data will not be sold to any political party or candidate and that neutrality will be entirely respected until the end of the elections. The optimist in me chooses to believe this is the truth.
So, to conclude this whirlwind tour of ‘Elyze’, I am left feeling somewhat inspired and motivated to (re)engage with politics. However, I wish to do this in a new way, through what I am familiar with and on my own terms. I feel compelled to agree with the importance of voting, an essential and ancient practice in a democratic society. Nevertheless, it should be done in way that is compatible with a 21st-century vision of politics. I guess the real and final question is to what extent this will truly have an impact on the elections and the future of politics. Only time will tell. I am curious to see if any candidates will reference the app or if any other countries will follow in France’s footsteps.