The problem with technology platforms is rooted in start-up culture.

Agile. Lean. Market size. Time-to-market. User take-up. Engagement rate.

These are terms that help start-ups compete across “how much” and “by when.”

We need a performance metric that tracks “how long before it breaks”

The documentary “The Social Dilemma” displays how engagement-driven technology facilitates the development of amoral machine learning, echo chambers, and, eventually, crime and social unrest.

Its critics say this is too dramatic a narrative.

But where exactly in the start-up scene are morality, long-termism, and social stability tracked as growth metrics?

I haven’t seen it outside the social enterprise niche.

You have the odd conference stream titled, “The paramount…

When I think about people close to me, I encounter a thick fog, oblivious to anything on the other side.

I don’t know what it means to be “close” anymore.

If you ask me who I speak to the most, I can think of the top two people.

If you ask me about the ex who is not exactly a friend, but is there for crisis resolution, he’s there too.

I think of the creative tribe that fills me up with support, encouragement, and inspiration in my work.

I think of the mental health buddies to whom I can show…

I’m white. The only thing that comes close to me understanding white supremacy is if I look at my experience as a feminist.

Before you come on this journey with me, one little note. It is my journey. I don’t think it is the only, or best, way.

This personal reflection serves to create a bridge between MeToo and Black Lives Matter, and provide fuel for future movements against oppression.

Stopping for gas

2017

I posted #MeToo without any knowledge of what it was to become. I saw a post, resonated, and shared.

In just under a year, 19 million tweets echoed globally with…

You can stop someone from gaslighting you by saying “No.”

to gaslight (verb)
gaslit, gaslit
the post-woke term for manipulating someone’s perception of their own oppression.

“No” can be spoken, or it can be a state of mind.

It can feel daunting to stop someone from “telling you what’s what”. Especially if this person is an authority figure, or if there’s a web of psychological games thread around you 24/7.

But, in most cases, standing up for yourself is healing and empowering, assuming it doesn’t put you in danger.

You don’t say “No” so the other person feels rejected or ashamed.

You do it so you can move on.

You have 4 responses when you’re being gaslit

1. Stand your ground

Gaslighting…

The way the world sees us depends on how we see ourselves.

Surely it can go both ways though?

I remember, up until I was about 11, I had virtually no opinion on how I fared on the beauty scale. I noticed some girls were especially interesting-looking. But I mostly attributed that to pretty dresses and hairstyles, while sulking in the short hair and tomboy wardrobe chosen by my parents.

Once I entered middle school, reviews came soaring in, like I’d just had press night on my newest play. Comments on my face, body, existence were expressed, day after day, by schoolmates, parents, and friends.

I learned that my body was categorized…