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Larissa May reflects on empowering the next generation’s relationship with technology

Mozilla Blog - fr, 15/03/2024 - 16:00

At Mozilla, we know we can’t create a better future alone, that is why each year we will be highlighting the work of 25 digital leaders using technology to amplify voices, effect change, and build new technologies globally through our Rise 25 Awards. These storytellers, innovators, activists, advocates, builders and artists are helping make the internet more diverse, ethical, responsible and inclusive.

This week, we chatted with activist Larissa May, the founder of #HalfTheStory, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation’s relationship with technology. With talked with May about the role technology played in her mental health, how #HalfTheStory evolved from a project in her college dorm room to what it is today, and her work in policy advocating for tech companies to build solutions to help youth thrive.

You know firsthand how toxic social media can be for kids. It has changed a lot in recent years, for the good and the bad. What do you think is the biggest danger kids face in 2024, and what can we do to combat it?

The average American teenager will spend approximately 30 years of their life behind screens. The greatest danger children, and indeed all of us, face lies in the uncertainties surrounding social media and its technologies. Technology evolves rapidly, outpacing both human understanding and legislative frameworks.

In 2024, we are witnessing the emergence of AI, with its potential for positive innovation, while also getting glimpses of its perilous side, whose full extent eludes us. Formerly innocuous interactions, such as a mere comment now hold the potential to morph into deceptive deep fakes, amplifying the challenges posed by social media. The velocity of AI’s advancement often outpaces our comprehension, leading to profound emotional ramifications, not only for our children but also for our societal fabric and economy. 

Watching the growth of the #HalfTheStory movement has certainly had a big impact on you. Has anything surprised you along the way that you weren’t expecting?

What surprised me most along the way was realizing that most adults grapple with their relationship with technology just as much as children do. Now, as an adult who was once a child with a dream and an idea – which became #HalfTheStory – I’ve come to understand that while our focus may be on safeguarding children, we must also provide support to the adults who guide them. Demonstrating and modeling healthy relationships with technology is a crucial piece of this puzzle.

Larissa May and her husband at Mozilla’s Rise25 award ceremony in October 2023.

From the spotlight you’ve received in recent years – Good Morning America, your Ted Talk, TIME, Forbes, NBC, etc. — which experience made you stop and reflect on the magnitude of the work you do?

There is no destination or pot of gold. In fact, the goalpost is always moving. There isn’t a day that I don’t wake up without wonder and awe for the journey and where it’s taken me. Sometimes I struggle to fully understand the magnitude and the impact of this nonprofit. There are moments every week that surprise me, whether it be the people who slide into my DMs, full circle moments, or people that I meet on the street who’ve known about #HalfTheStory or shared their own story with HTS many years ago.

Although the big accolades and TV segments are meaningful, I think the moments that are the most striking for me are the ones that happen behind closed doors, the messages that I receive, the one-off text messages with young people, and the aha moments that help me better understand the realities that young people are facing so that I can create a voice in every room where a decision is being made about them.

What do you think is the biggest challenge we face in the world this year on and offline?

Social media has perpetuated so many of the inequalities we see in the world. The online “realities” we see are not the whole story and make it more difficult for us to be able to see people from where they come from and to walk in their shoes. 

During this year, especially when an election is happening in America, this is especially dangerous as social media often can keep us in our own ecosystems and eco chambers. It’s up to us to break through those so that we can understand multiple perspectives and have empathy for what other people are going through.

Social media feeds on emotions and combative behavior – that’s just how the algorithm works. We have to step outside of our algorithm and into our humanity.

Where do you draw inspiration from to continue your work as an activist today?

Teen work makes the dream work. I draw my inspiration from the future and the heartbeat of #HalfTheStory, our community. 

What is one action that you think everyone should take to make the world and our lives a little better?

One simple action you can take is to put your phone down and engage in eye contact, genuinely seeking to understand someone’s story and background. Often, we become ensnared in our own egos, identities, and digital distractions, overlooking those right in front of us who may need our support the most.

To create more room for the present moment, I employ a few strategies. I set away messages for my text messages, switch my phone to grayscale mode, and strive to make my technology less addictive by hacking my algorithm. These practices help me liberate my mind and savor the moments between the hustle and bustle of daily life.

We started Rise25 to celebrate Mozilla’s 25th anniversary, what do you hope people are celebrating in the next 25 years?

In the next 25 years, I hope that humanity is celebrating humanity. I think for many years we’ve celebrated tech and innovation and as we’ve done that we lost touch with ourselves, our souls, and the things that make us human. I do believe that we will see a pendulum swing – we are even seeing it with some of our teens now.

Being human and accessing screen-free experiences really is a luxury, and connection that is not simulated is one of the most precious things that we have. Time is a non-renewable resource, so I hope we don’t spend the next 25 years behind our screens. What gives me hope for the future is our teens.

What gives you hope about the future of our world?

Our society loves to paint a story of darkness and digital sickness, but I get to witness the digital wellness revolution unfold every day before my eyes.

Our teens are paving the path forward. They are the heart and soul of #HalfTheStory and I’m the lucky leader that gets to sail alongside them into a brighter horizon.

The future is BRIGHT (with less blue light). 

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The post Larissa May reflects on empowering the next generation’s relationship with technology appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Categorieën: Mozilla-nl planet

Introducing Didthis: A New App For Hobbyists

Mozilla Blog - fr, 15/03/2024 - 16:00
Logo for didthis - a hand snapping over a yellow background

Everyone has a hobby. More generally, everyone has things they’re interested in or passionate about. And pursuing those interests is one of the big reasons that we use the Web. The online world is a great place to connect with our fellow hobbyists and enthusiasts, to learn from them, and to share our own knowledge and accomplishments.

But so much of this happens today in online spaces where things can quickly turn sour. Big social media platforms increasingly expose us to toxic behavior. Interests groups and forums can be unwelcoming or intimidating to newcomers. These bad experiences are driving more and more people off of the open Web and into the protected enclaves of the so-called “cozy web.” Additionally, social media distractions and the pressure to keep up with posting can more often stall your progress rather than accelerating it.

Over the past year we’ve been actively exploring the idea of healthy alternatives to today’s social media. Today we’re sharing our latest experiment on the topic.

Didthis, a Mozilla innovation project, is a new app for anyone with a project-oriented hobby or personal interest. Whether you’re learning to knit a sweater, crafting a side table, or practicing a new recipe, Didthis makes it easy to keep track of your passion projects, capturing photos, links, and notes along the way and assembling your updates into a timeline that tells the story of your project. It’s a personal record of your progress, an acknowledgement of what you learned from your setbacks, and a celebration of your growth as a hobbyist. 

Didthis isn’t really “social media,” at least not yet. Didthis is about being useful to you as you pursue your personal interests. We’re not following the typical social media playbook, here, and that’s intentional. Everything you post on Didthis is private by default. If you want, you can choose to share a link to your project with anyone you want: friends, family, or fellow hobbyists on social media or the “cozy web.” If people like Didthis, we’ll add social and community functionality over time, but our focus will always be on healthy interactions over virality.

For now, we’ve set up our own Discord server where Didthis users can connect with us to share feedback. We’ve also got a dedicated “show and tell” channel where Didthis users can optionally share their project updates with fellow hobbyists in our small but growing community. 

You can try Didthis on the Web by visiting https://didthis.app. Our Web app works on both desktop and mobile devices. We also have an early iOS app that is available in the App Store for US and Canada (with Android to follow).

As this is still an experiment, we are eager for you to share your feedback at any time in the Didthis Discord channel. If you prefer to share more privately, you can email our entire team directly at didthis@mozilla.com.

The post Introducing Didthis: A New App For Hobbyists appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Categorieën: Mozilla-nl planet

Creator Nyamekye Wilson is uplifting Black women in STEM and creating a talent pipeline for the next generation

Mozilla Blog - wo, 13/03/2024 - 19:39

At Mozilla, we know  we can’t create a better future alone, that is why each year we will be highlighting the work of 25 digital leaders using technology to amplify voices, effect change, and build new technologies globally through our Rise 25 Awards. These storytellers, innovators, activists, advocates. builders and artists are helping make the internet more diverse, ethical, responsible and inclusive.

This week, we chatted with Nyamekye Wilson, a creator that is the founder and CEO of Black Sisters in STEM, a group building one of the largest talent pipelines of Black college women in STEM. Her passion for global STEM and bridging the gender gap gave birth to a six-figure tech company while she was working at Google. We talk with Nyamekye about the challenges she’s faced in her career, starting a Black nonprofit, where she draws inspiration from and more.

OK, first off, where did the phrase “the Moses of STEM” originate from for you?

It came to me at church, and it was something that I just knew and I just heard and my brain is like “the Moses of them.” And then it was something that I spoke over to the team like a fellow — like that is really perfect, that’s exactly who you are. 

The historical figure of Moses, he was someone who led people out of activity. And so really with Black Sisters in STEM, it’s not just a workplace organization, it’s so much more than that. It is really that we are taking Black women out of a lot of the activity that they’ve learned over time from a very young age of things that we cannot be, things that we cannot do, places we cannot go. Who we cannot be. And so, when it comes to the Moses of STEM, it’s really about unearthing and bringing people out of a lot of bondage and most of that bondage is always in the mind. 

You mentioned a lot of the different experiences and labels you’ve dealt with in your career — racism, sexism, classism — that we face in schooling and in the workforce in general. Which issue would you say was the one that really ignited the fire for you and the work that you do right now the most?

I would say it was really the concept of intersectionality. When I did leave my finance major in college, I went into sociology and women, gender and sexuality studies, that’s when I got introduced to Kimberlé Crenshaw and her concept of intersectionality. And that was the first time in life that I actually heard a philosophy that actually spoke to my experience. 

What are the biggest challenges that you’ve had to face starting a Black nonprofit that most people might not be aware of?

We are not the ones in the world of philanthropy, typically, when it comes to running systems and running things at a large level. Even when you look at places like Africa or places like the Caribbean, or even Black American communities in the U.S., a lot of organizations aren’t run by us, aren’t founded by us in our community to support us. So that’s one thing, the funding structure and really understanding that some of the relationships are doing a lot of funding with the people that are running them. 

Number two is that it can be very difficult to fight for something that you also share the identity of. This is something that we notice in the civil rights movement — it’s a lot of fatigue to fight for the rights of your people when you are also the people that are inclusive of those fights, right? It’s a constant mental war, I would say, because it’s like, I’m not just talking about Black women from afar, I am the Black woman who’s been through that. I am the Black woman who did not have the support. I am the Black woman who, you know, went through the question and anxiety trying to get to the place where I’m trying to get to my girl’s to. I am the Black woman who gained over 60 pounds trying to take my family out of poverty and be the first person in my family to have a six-figure career right out of college. That is a mental battle that you constantly have to do. And so you really have to have a lot of mental attitude. You really have to work with the best interactions and best relationships that maybe other populations more likely have — they don’t have to do half the work because if they came from a very wealthy area, they’re likely to have that and some people in those areas have a foundation, it’s very likely. And they likely have those people to be family friends or family connections — it makes it so much easier when you can just go to their house, or you can just call them and say, “hey, I have this idea.” That’s how money moves by relationship. Essentially, it always moves by relationship because money is a trust factor. And when you have the relationship, someone who has known you since you were five, and they’ve been friends with your mom and dad for 20 years, that trust factor is already there. Versus, a young Black girl coming to the phone with her story and her narrative and you’ve never met her in your life. You don’t know anything about her. You don’t know anything about the organization. Now, I have to do 10 times the work. And plead to you who I am, plead to you what we’re doing at Black Sisters to get that trust, compared to someone with less information because that’s someone who you’ve known your whole life. And that’s just human nature. But that human nature is now, again, back to the systems of racism. That effect of racism is now causing more work for me.

Nyamekye Wilson at Mozilla’s Rise25 award ceremony in October 2023.

Where do you draw inspiration from in continuing the work that you do today? 

I would say what inspired me really is my faith. I’m a very faith-based person, very spiritual person, and my faith in Christ is what keeps me going. Because if not, it would be very hard to do this work. Number two of what keeps me going is knowing that where I come from had even less access, even less opportunity and seeing what they were able to create and what they were able to be so inspiring. 

I’ve always loved learning about civilized movements, learning about things that MLK was a part of. All of these people — Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, — when you read and watch, we just learn about the level of resilience and the level of fortitude and the level to feel and see a better world completely at the expense of themselves. As much as there is a need for a better world, the world I’m seeing is way better than the world they had. And if they could affect that global change, I can, too. 

And then I would also say, in alignment with that, my own mother. She is a perfect example. Single mother. She really held the weight of my entire family on her shoulders. And she never gave up. One of the most consistent, one of the most brilliant, one of the most hardworking — if not the most hardworking — brilliant person I know. Through all that she’s given, that I already have, it inspires me to do more.

What is one action that everybody can take to make our world a little bit better?

I would say take the time to learn. After going through sociology, women, gender and sexuality studies, I just realized that was a wealth of knowledge that everyone in this world should have. Unfortunately, that’s not how most of the education systems are. … Being a viable part of the society, it is really important to understand what has to be reading and what has to do with where the society is right now. I don’t think a lot of people do enough research.

 And then, number two, after you do that research, have some sort of goals around supporting people who are putting their efforts in changing that society and changing that world. And be very intentional about it. Look at who is running those companies. Look at the impact of their companies. Look at who they’re supporting — and everyone at every level. 

Whether you give your time, whether you give your money, whether you give whatever, I don’t think there’s ever enough people to give. You can even give your amplification, right? Amplifying something on social media. Amplifying and making sure you forward a newsletter. Making sure you promise on something. You don’t understand what that could potentially do, especially if you have a certain network. You have a certain network and if you’re on LinkedIn and you have the time to comment on a Black Sisters post, you are doing a lot for us. Because now your entire network is going to be seeing that consistently. And that is something that’s completely free and didn’t take many minutes to do. 

And then also, if you have the capacity, make sure you’re also giving on a yearly basis as much as you can budget for. 

We started Rise 25 to celebrate Mozilla’s 25th anniversary. What do you hope that people are celebrating in the next 25 years?

I hope people are celebrating a society that provides opportunities based off of potential and not race, color, gender, etc. I hope that potential means opportunities and that people are celebrating the fact that they are in a city, space, etc. that allows for potential and opportunities to always be on equal footing. And not be based off of things that you cannot control. 

What gives you hope for the future of our world?

What gives me hope is hope (laughs). What gives me hope is the ability to know that human beings have and will always have the luxury of bringing stories of seeing things progress, of moving and changing the world. And it’s going to be something that has been done throughout. So many people have different stories. It’s everything. And so, I really believe that if there’s a force that keeps me going, I think it’s a way that people can hold onto that.

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The post Creator Nyamekye Wilson is uplifting Black women in STEM and creating a talent pipeline for the next generation appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Categorieën: Mozilla-nl planet

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