This Technology is Bad for You?

Ok, my headline is a little tongue-in-cheek. I’m a technologist and I want to believe that technology has improved our lives. From airplanes to vaccinations to smart phones to light bulbs. However, like everything in life, choices have consequences. Here’s two video essays I recently watched that discuss how the technology you’re using right now 👀 can do you harm. It’s not your fault, we’re still in the infancy of having the capabilities we now have – to broadcast and consume at a global an unending scale – and our squishy human brains are not adapted for this. At. All.

A pretty good summary of why Twitter/Facebook/etc are not “public squares” as traditionally (and in a historically socially-healthy way) conceived.

It’s not just social media that is causing fractures in society. We also don’t share the same popular culture as we once did. Remember when you had to sit down at the same time as every other person in your country to watch the latest episode of a show? And then talk about it at work the next day? That doesn’t happen as much any more. Our own world of shared culture is, well, less shared.

See also Joan Westenberg’s ruminations on the old internet. (Via kottke.org)

You Should Watch a Four Hour Video on YouTube about Plagiarism on YouTube

Wow. I watched this across multiple sessions and it was worth every minute. It’s a well-researched and engaging essay by hbomberguy, an essayist known for his really in-depth videos. This video starts talking about examples of people taking verbatim from other writers and creators with no care for proper credit or respect. Then it gets really deep into one incredibly unfortunate instance.

As an aside to the main narrative of the video, I think it also hits on the importance of digital literacy and critical thinking skills. If the average person can’t separate the cheap knock-off shit from actual work then we’re doomed. We’ll learn things that are not true by people who appear as educators but are actually charlatans. It’s hard to unlearn things and this grifter-level shit just makes it harder to have a shared understanding of a topic.

The people being called out in this video themselves don’t appear to know (or maybe they do know, which is even worse) how actual research and citation works! They just want to make a quick buck. Ugh.

I’m going to sound like an old man, but what if young, impressionable, people are watching this? Do they grow up thinking this is how it’s done? Where, like, they might think plagiarism is just how you get by and everybody does it so it’s OK. Are they even aware they’re being fed BS? I wonder if this sort of lazy work reinforces the roundabout logic of “my side can’t win so I reject reality” we see so often when folks are presented with information that contradicts their understanding.

The whole thing boils down to if you don’t understand how to cite your work, you end up making a bad book report.

A Pot Prophecy

This lecture did not age well. In fact the “bad guy” here was quite right!

Later in the episode the young man (23 and a home owner!) neglects his child (who of course dies, cause cannabis bad) for a cannabis party. Which is what happens when you use pot. Every time. /s

I read this comment when this clip was recently posted on Reddit.

Here’s a hypothetical rebuttal the 23 year old could have said if the conversation continued
“You know what your problem is? What’s the problem with all you types? You only see people at their worst. You say you’ve seen it happen before, seen people crash and burn from this or that, and I don’t doubt it, because it’s your job to go after the people who are crashing and burning. But you don’t see all the people keeping it together, because they don’t make any fuss to be seen. I guarantee you there’s countless people out there doing “this and that” which you subjectively think is immoral, and they’re fine. I guarantee you there’s old men who smoked weed every week of their life and died happy men with big loving families. I even guarantee you there some other officers in your precinct who you respect and maybe even admire who are doing marijuana or something more, and you can’t tell. Your perspective is warped because it’s your job to fixate on the 1% worst of society, but there’s nothing obligating you to balance that out by spending the rest of your time with people who have it together. You’re never called to the scene of a family having a nice picnic, so do you assume nice picnics never happen? And anyone who’s had decades of a good life with family and friends, yet they’ve also smoked marjiuana, aren’t going to tell you about it to let you in on the more tame reality of things, because the moment you knew, you would try to destroy their lives, make them crash and burn so your prophecies would become self fulfilling.”

Bezbozny on Reddit

Seven Years – or thereabouts

In January I will have been at the Wikimedia Foundation for 7 years. 1 My role has changed a lot over those seven years, as has the organization and the wider Wikimedia movement. At the end of this year, I wanted to take a second to write down what I do and why. This is a pseudo-introduction post for social media (where I don’t have much of a presence) and a chance to pen a, “What I do for a living” blog post.

One of the big things I do is help with movement-facing communications stuff for the Wikimedia Foundation. The non-profit that supports Wikipedia and other free-knowledge projects. My job is to get teams at the Foundation to talk to the volunteers and share what they’re doing. Lots of behind-the-scenes feedback and input on how to find folks and where to talk to them – before we go and talk to them!

That’s always ongoing, never ending work that most of the time works well. Teams write their thinking down and understand what the community values (no surprises!). Folks know about the work we’re doing and can get involved. We understand their needs and concerns and address them. I try to be the voice of the community – as best any one person can – in internal conversations. So we’re as understanding and aligned as a 700+ org of folks, the majority of which are not contributors and are new to this community, can be. 

The other big thing I do is help run a community news and event blog called Diff. https://diff.wikimedia.org This is also ongoing, never ending work, that most of the time works well. It’s the more fun, direct work I do in support of the first big thing I mentioned.

The name is super dorky. It’s named after the “differential” view between two edits on a wiki and the difference volunteers make in their work. I get to help share what people are working on from around the world in the pursuit of free knowledge. I’m like the hype man for the Wikimedia movement. Ok, maybe just a hype man, but I love my job and feel very lucky that I get to do this for a living. 

In 2022, Diff saw 188,427 visitors making up 386,331 views. We published 640 posts in dozens of languages from close to 300 authors. We have over 720 email subscribers. On the scale of Wikipedia that’s small potatoes (English Wikipedia saw 96 Billion views in 2022), but on the scale of the movement of volunteers – editors, organizers, affiliates, staff, etc. – I’m happy with what we’ve done. For comparison we say we have about 300k contributors across all projects and languages, so to reach 188k “visitors” of that group, and a little beyond, is pretty good in my book. 

Diff is very open. You can login with your Wikimedia account and submit a draft. I keep the site running on the software/feature side of things, documentation, and helping review the drafts that come in and answer questions from authors. That last bit takes up a lot of time. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to write a post and I am here for giving folks the platform and support to share their work. 

Here’s a short list of some of my favorite posts this year. 

Araisyohei, a volunteer from Japan takes on a behind-the-scenes tour of OYA Soichi Library, a small magazine library in Tokyo. There’s some great photos of their event and an even more amazing video tour of this tiny library embedded in the post. 

JA: https://diff.wikimedia.org/ja/2022/06/13/日本随一の雑誌専門図書館でエディッタソンを有/

EN: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/06/22/editathon-at-oya-soichi-library-japanese-magazine-library/

Every year Jimmy Wales celebrates Wikimedians for their efforts. Expanded in recent years, the “Wikimedian of the Year” awards are always a highlight. These folks are doing such unique and important work in their free time.

EN (Numerous language selectable in the drop-down): https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/08/14/celebrating-the-2022-wikimedians-of-the-year/

One of the folks who won an award this year was Annie Rauwerda, from @depthsofwikipedia fame. I was fortunate enough to interview Annie in late 2021, right as she was blowing up. #humblebrag

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/12/07/from-the-depths-of-wikipedia-an-interview-with-wikimedian-and-influencer-annie-rauwerda/

Her work now has its own Wikipedia article in eight languages!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depths_of_Wikipedia

Wikimedians host photo contests throughout the year on various themes. Wiki loves Folklore, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves Africa, Picture of the Year, and more. These contests capture the diversity of life on the planet and the amazing talents volunteers have – and share freely. I’m in awe and humbled every time we publish a recap of a contest. Here’s a recent one from the Wiki Loves Africa 2022 contest. 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/12/06/intimate-glimpses-of-home-expressed-in-wiki-loves-africas-photo-competition-on-wikipedia/

Another from April and the Wiki Loves Monuments 2021 contest. 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/04/20/take-a-journey-around-the-world-with-the-wiki-loves-monuments-winners-2021/

One of the cornerstones – maybe _the_ cornerstone of what makes Wikipedia work are citations to reliable sources. Access to these sources can be challenging. Many are behind paywalls or in journals that are hard to access. The Foundation helps by building a service called the Wikipedia Library, where volunteers can get free access to these sources to help create and improve articles. 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/01/19/the-wikipedia-library-accessing-free-reliable-sources-is-now-easier-than-ever/

I work with a lot of smart folks who are trying to figure out how to create, sustain, and grow healthy and independent communities. One way we do that is by developing programs, training, and resources for communities to succeed. In this three-part(!) series, Alex Stinson explores how organizing helps the movement grow in relation to our 2030 movement strategy. 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/04/05/part-i-anyone-can-edit-is-not-a-strategy-for-growing-the-wikimedia-movement/

Editing an encyclopedia seems like a boring, harmless endeavor. Until you realize that there are people who don’t want this to happen. They don’t like facts. Or laws that could greatly hinder how volunteers can contribute and what we’re able to host. Our legal department and our global advocacy team are some of the most caring, invested folks I know making sure people can express facts – and themselves – in areas of the world where that is dangerous. 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/04/20/how-smart-is-the-smart-copyright-act/

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/07/12/what-does-the-wikimedia-foundations-human-rights-impact-assessment-mean-for-the-wikimedia-movement/

We also love to republish articles from elsewhere on the web. Wikimedian and deep learning enthusiast Colin Morris shared his work in trying to discover the _least_ viewed article on Wikipedia. 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/06/06/in-search-of-the-least-viewed-article-on-wikipedia/

Last, but not least, our product tames take building software for everyone very seriously. We have a new desktop interface (and I think secretly a new mobile interface too) coming in January. In this post the product manager, Olga a good friend and foxhole comrade, talks about how the web team approaches developing their work with equity in mind. The sort of thoughtful product development we need to see more of in the world. 

EN (and seven languages): 

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/08/18/prioritizing-equity-within-wikipedias-new-desktop/


The Wikimedia movement is messy. People can be jerks and the barrier to entry is far too high for my liking. I show up every day trying to increase awareness and participation of what folks are doing. To gather people together and connect interests and ideas. It’s funny to be working in the blog mines in 2022 – not just working – but thriving when so many folks consider a blog as an old antiquated thing. I think they have a place and more folks should turn to them to share what they are doing and learn from others. I don’t know where I go from here professionally. Something I’ve been talking about with folks, but whatever is next I hope is more of this. Positivity, working together to tell the story of our movement, and supporting one another through difficult times.