Ingenious and socially aware

Most internet quizzes, especially those on Facebook, are lazily pre-programmed rat runs that lead you to a somewhat contrived answer such as 'what cast member of The Walking Dead are you?'  They are parasites that feed on people's ennui and striving for identity in an uncertain world where the old verities are gone.  A few though rise above the general junk bobbing about in cyberspace.  I say a few because I'm sure there must be but to date I've only found one that is intelligent and worthwhile and I found it today.

http://uk.isidewith.com/ brilliantly correlates your political beliefs and how strongly you feel about them with the manifestos and policy platforms of eight main political parties (nine, if the 'You' party is included where you submit statements of your own rather than select the options on offer).  When I first heard of the political quiz, I thought, here we go, another hack job.  An hour later I was stunned by how laser-like in its precision it is.  If you keep referring to 'choose another statement' that isn't 'Yes/No', 'Increase/Decrease', etc, it even offers to place all answers on the screen to aid you, so the quiz interface can be as clean or as messy as you like.

A little surprisingly but not greatly, I side most with Labour on an 83% match.  The SNP are next on 79%, even though I disagree with them on their raison d'être of Scottish independence.  The Liberal Democrats follow on 76%, Greens on 74% and Plaid Cymru on 72%.  The Conservatives languish on 51%, while the BNP are in the basement with 37% and UKIP are on a miserable 24%.  I find this very satisfying as I regard UKIP leaflets posted through my letterbox as unwelcome as dog poo (two in the run-up to the May elections).  Some might find the BNP and UKIP tallies rather high but you could turn it on its head and say I am in disagreement with 63% of BNP policies and 76% of UKIP policies, while being 100% opposed to both parties.  It can be hard to be centre-left and anti-BNP with some of the questions, as, like me, they want to abolish university tuition fees, oppose buy-to-let mortgages and think Tube drivers should be allowed to strike.  None of their immigration stances are in line with mine and the only crime and punishment belief that correlates is deporting promoters of terrorism (typically though they go beyond reasonability and want to deport all foreign criminals).  Several of my colleagues were getting BNP scores in the +60s and UKIP scores in the +70s (they tended to be Conservative most).

In many ways, I imagine this acts like a dating website, finding good fits for your personality.  I wouldn't know but the modus operandi seems similar.  As a way of helping those who are not politically aware, this is an invaluable and non-partisan tool to aid them in for whom should they vote in case they were struggling to make their minds up or just didn't know.  And it's a guide rather than an oracle - you don't have to follow what it says - one of my workplace colleagues was rated as in agreement with 95% of Conservative policy but was still going to vote UKIP to shake the establishment tree as it were.  Another was 89% Labour.  At 83% Labour, I hope it is a sign of my centrism and non-dogmatic ideals in politics.  I thought the Tories would have been higher but when you are against public subsidy for 'free schools' (they should stand on their own two feet if they want to be independent) and the renewal of Trident (a waste of money), the Tories won't figure high in your thinking.  What I got from my office was that this 'test' was incredibly popular and if it increases people's political engagement, then it can only be a good thing