Apathy is Boring

The Apathy is Boring Project is a Canadian non-partisan project that uses art, media, and technology to encourage active citizenry, outreaching to a broad demographic of youth about how to be more involved in their communities and the democratic process. Apathy is Boring was born in January 2004, to fill a gap in youth representation in politics and democracy. The original founders (Ilona Dougherty, 23, Paul Shore, 30, and Mackenzie Duncan, 20) saw that many of their peers felt disengaged from the political process. They wanted to see youth voting rates increase while combating youth apathy. With a tiny budget, Apathy is Boring’s first campaign began in February 2004, only a month after its conception, and was focused on getting out the youth vote during the 2004 federal election. Using digital media technology and an outreach campaign, Apathy is Boring was able to reach over 500 000 young people in Canada in two months. The website received over 400 000 hits and the project sent out digital e-cards to over 100 000 young people. By engaging youth who are disengaged, Apathy Is Boring aims to be the entry point for young people into lifelong active citizenry. Our aim is to really communicate with youth using a mix of creative, content-driven projects that engage, motivate and educate. With this site, we aim to create an online community in which young people can connect with politicians and each other – because apathy is boring, and democracy is sexy. Welcome to that community!