By Gianna Aktas ’16
Sitting at a table packed with either Republicans or Democrats arguing about who should be the next president gets annoying when you don’t know where you stand in the picture. It’s like you’re playing a game with yourself, saying things like, “OK, Mom said this and since she’s my mom, I agree with her.” Constantly wondering where you stand on the political spectrum gets tiring and old.
For those who are not as politically active, online tests seem to be their go-to when figuring out who they want to run the country. iSideWith.com is a political website that was created in 2012 by two friends, Taylor Peck and Nick Boutelier, both with very different political views. Along with the political quiz that more than 34 million people have taken, the website offers news sections, polls and a whole section dedicated to understanding the results from the quiz.
The students take this test to become more politically aware of what is going on. Some students who are not eligible to vote in November use the test to get a better understanding of their own views and help them in the future.
“I took this test because I knew where I stood as a Republican. I knew I would agree with Trump the most and the test clarified my results,” senior Victoria Luongo said.
The quiz itself is categorized into 11 different issues: social, environmental, economic, domestic policy, healthcare, electoral, criminal, foreign policy, education, immigration and science. Each section offers eight yes-or-no type questions. Along the side of the question, there is a rating bar which allows users to say if this issue is either least or most important to them.
“We believe that if users are reminded which political issues are important to them and are shown how these views align with political candidates they will be more likely to vote and influence their friends and family to do so,” Peck and Boutelier said in a statement.
Once the test is finished, users will have their results presented to them. It will tell them if they side with Republicans or Democrats more. A list of all the candidates will appear with percentages next to them, from greatest to least on the ranking scale of who to vote for.
“I side with Sanders on 82 percent of the issues. I didn’t know where I was going to fall, but I can now see why I’d be best fit to vote for him,” junior Sydney Kessler said.
Senior Emma Faust does not follow politics and is not politically active. However, after taking the test, she was able to learn more about her own views. “I side with Bernie Sanders; I think he’s a pretty chill guy,” she said. “I didn’t think I would side with him, I actually thought I wouldn’t side with any of the candidates.”
