My name is Steve and I am a freelance software engineer based in Paris. I also co-founded Givfolio, a donation platform whose help founding charities.
I stumbled here after reading a french book called “The redfish civilisation” (which presents some consequences of our digital addiction to our brain: reduction of focus time, some mental disorders etc…) and I looked for some communities that tries to struggle against that.
I look forward to read and discuss with all of you and if my technical skills can help in any way i can, would be happy to help !
Sorry but I posted weeks ago the following text in Focus - Education program:
Oct 28
I am an Italian school manager, recently retired, for many years an English language teacher in public schools. Over the last 40 years I have followed the development of ICT. Now I am the editor of an online magazine www.ictedmagazine.com 6 which we distribute on a non-profit basis. I very much appreciated HTC’s initiative and decided to join your initiative as a part of this community. In addition to the magazine, I want to continue to spread in Italy the importance of the educational and training aspect of human technology by launching Humane Tech for Education (Italy). We are a working group made up of professors, engineers and ICT experts who want to contribute to spreading human technology through meetups, training and information activities aimed at everyone, but in particular at young parents, teenagers and teachers. I think that we need to start from this type of activity, from schools and families if we really want to recover sustainable use of ICT. What do you think about?
Hello! I’m Alexa, a copywriter & photographer by trade, neurobiologist by education, and humane tech junky by choice.
About a decade ago I got interested in blogging, which led to a career as a marketer, with a stint in the corporate world running social media in the healthcare industry. Filling their feeds with endless content for the sake of being always present and noticed never felt right to me, especially given my alignment with Seth Godin’s school of generous marketing & community building.
One of Tristan Harris’ TedTalk first opened my eyes to how our brains are being “hacked” and it was a deep rabbit hole of everything from Jason Lanier to Dense Discovery from there.
I’ve worked in tech, partnering with consciousness and meditation based VR companies, and in the last year have stopped any social media marketing contracts I had. Hard to be critical of an industry when you’re actively contributing to it…haha.
I’ve lately been using my writing & neuro skills to bring awareness to the impact social media and our crazy fast-paced world are having on our brains and lives.
I don’t have a lot of community that is as feverishly interested in humane tech and how it influences us so… I’m here to develop a bit more community, make connections with people who share my interests, and if possible collaborate on cool shit that pushes the ethical tech agenda. Excited to meet you all!
I’m a recent graduate in bachelor’s degree and project manager of online educational platform. It looks like I’m part of Generation Z As a kid I’s always fascinated by the technology, computers, phones and later smartphones. In my teenage years it was a trend to be a part of social media (in Armenia there were both Russian and American social media platforms, like ok.ru, vk.com and of course Facebook). So, I was heavily involved in virtual communication platforms.
From high school and in my university years I tried deeply to understand the impact that social media has on me. For many years I was either really addicted to news feeds, or tried to completely abandon me from that. But after some point I started to seriously consider how the overall environment of technology, internet impacts on life. Sometimes I thought that the main problem is in my mindset, but when you find people, communities who share the same concerns, you feel connected and Humane tech community is one of them.
I’m still addicted to social media platforms , but in many ways I perceive information differently. Today it’s more than important to be really conscious about your own behavior, so that we control technology, not technology us.
Hope to find interesting and fascinating discussion
My name is Tara Gilboa and I am a user researcher based in Boulder, Colorado. Formerly I was a middle & high school teacher before moving into professional development in Higher Ed with a focus on integrating technology use in classroom teaching. Then I worked with a startup to scale graduate degrees virtually, I’ve always been working at the intersections of student agency and learning through technology, and after facilitating a number of events for edtech entrepreneurs along the Front Range I’m more than slightly concerned about the existential threats of products we’re creating. After watching a person I love lose their mind and identity to social media I’ve been on a HTC kick ever since. Losing someone you love - to their phone of all things? - really changed everything for me. I’ve been devouring many books and articles shared in these forums and others (Shoshana Zuboff, Joe Toscano, etc.) Forever curious about ethical-centered-society-design, how to design for human agency and learning, and what our societal and global data privacy rights should look like and the public policy actions and education we need to co-create to make that happen. Looking forward to learning, growing, and educating alongside you all to support a more conscious collective.
Hi Tara, welcome to this forum! I’m a 39 years old italian software engineer who recently (~ 3 years ago) moved to teaching in public high schools. I teach computer science and digital citizenship. I’m very interested in what you do - blending technology and face-to-face teaching/learning, trying to use tech in an ethical way without falling into the common temptations that attractive interfaces, ultra-gamification and data collection and manipulation can bring to. I also read the book of Shoshana Zuboff, having the feeling while doing that of something that would set a direction and create a vocabulary for everything that would come after. We tried in the past in this community to carry some projects but our hybrid nature (linked to HTC but independent from it) made that harder. Do you have something in particular in mind?
Hi all, I’m Eli, a software developer from the Bay Area, now living more nomadically. I took a break from programming after a major life event required of me more space for internal emotional processing and healing, and now I’m coming back to the field. I’ve been feeling lots of burn-out looking at job listings and wading through what seem to be a lot of perpetuation of consumption-and-profits-driven services, and seeing the negative impact of technology on my own life and society at large. So much of what I have been thinking about is being discussed here at HTC, and I’m so grateful to have found this community, and want to be involved in any ways I can.
I’m passionate about exploring the ways technology defines our interactions with ourselves, with others, and with the Earth. Can advances in technology lead us to greater integration within our psyches and our communities? Can we move towards a more intimate relationship with our own natures and our places within the concentric spheres of belonging, instead of alienating ourselves from an intimacy with these identities?
With a BS in Computer Science, multiple years of professional experience as a full-stack web developer, and side projects with machine learning and data visualization, I see the work we create now as defining the realities of our future. The cutting-edge technological spaces that are exploding in ubiquity cannot exist separate from our primordial complexity, interconnectedness to others, and to the natural world.
I’m looking for ways to get involved: professional opportunities, open-source, pro bono. I have skills and I have time, and I want to get to work!
Hi everybody!
I’m Anton Kalyuskiy from Moscow, Russia.
Since May 2018 I had worked on some different projects (as a founder and CEO), which are close to HumaneTech main idea (to help people make the Internet useful, clear and personalized).
In January I’m going to do customer development in some Europian countries just to test some relative ideas and get a feedback from European customers.
Hi all. I’m Leigh-Chantelle. I’m passionate about digital well-being and digital communication, in particular prioritising conscious choices to interact.
I’m about to start Honours this year as part of my Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at Griffith University at the Gold Coast here in Australia. I’m hoping to do something I’m interested in e.g., cyber psychology, digital detox + mindfulness, digital well-being etc but not sure about supervisor options yet. Cyber psychology isn’t that well-established here yet, although there is a a research group at the University of Sydney.
My background is in speaking and consulting - mostly on social media, marketing/promotion, online advertising. Recently I started speaking more on online etiquette, and dealing with negativity online. I’ve been involved in the vegan/animal rights movement for over two decades too, but taken a step back since studying and having a bit of a reassessment of my priorities. I’ve also released a few books and eBooks, my Vegan Athletes Book is my most popular. You can find them online and if you do an internet search for me or vivalavegan (dot) net.
I am interested in CHT and the goals. I feel as though Tristan speaks my mind, and want to be involved with others who are working on making the world a better place utilising their skill sets in the most positive and effective way.
Currently I’m working on a new online course and textbook on cyber psychology, and would love to connect with others interested in cyber psychology and digital well being.
Please also get in touch if you are in the Gold Coast or Brisbane, as I always love getting to know other people. Hoping to get back into my travels once uni finishes.
Hello everyone! I’m Jack. I’m currently a researcher, teacher, and MPH candidate at Brown. A lot of my research focuses on how health care design and UX can be improved to improve provider and patient experiences (including reducing error rates, improving health care record entry, increasing access to your healthcare data and insurance info, etc.). I also use GIS software and satellite data to predict disease rates in the context of global warming. I see trust and manipulation issues as one of the largest threats to our global society, which is largely why I’ve joined this community.
If you’re located in Providence or Boston, or in Reno, NV, I’d love to meet some of you in person. You can also message/follow me on my twitter page.
Nice to hear from you and also very interesting what’s going on today in cyber psychology. You might want to check out Idka (www.idka.com) and join the open group #Privacy2020_ there and on Twitter. You can find me there and we can chat there too (not to take away from this forum, of course!)
Hello everyone! My name is Massimo, form Italy, but currently based in Bangkok where I lead a new Business Design Center at a leading University in Thailand. I mostly work around platform business model innovation and behavioural design/gamification. While my job is actually about creating “engaging” experiences with applied behavioural science, I’ve been thinking a lot about ethics. This has resulted in saying “no thank you” to many prospect clients (depending on their business objectives or industry), incorporating a “Platform Ethics module” at the MBA where I teach, as well as create my own code in terms of design solutions I offer - which has many overlaps with the design patterns I found in the Center for Humane Technology. I’m so glad I’ve discovered this community and I look forward connect, and contribute to this as much as I can. Should any of you be in Bangkok / Southeast Asia I’m really keen to connect and see what we can do together! - Massimo.
Hello! I’m a behavior designer and have designed and designed and implemented 100’s of websites, apps, and social media campaigns. I create brands and influence strategies for business and non-profits, and currently working on a poltical campaign as well.
I’ve created an evidence based framework that allows teams to consistently leverage social neuroscience and applied anthropology to create more human-centric experiences, grow communities, and increase thriving indexes.
I’ve helped many brands grow, now I hope to work on projects that help people grow.
Greetings! I feel like a bit of an outsider in this space, as I don’t have extensive professional experience in the tech industry. I spent the last 5 years working in Brand Marketing in the craft beer industry, with an emphasis on communications and social media, but I am currently taking the winter to explore a potential career reroute.
Last week I saw the documentary “The Social Dilemma” at Sundance, and it put words to many of my frustrations around the current social media landscape. My hope is to join or collaborate on a project that seeks to reintroduce social media as a tool, rather than a place of consumption… particularly within the outdoor industry. I am also open to projects that are willing to explore business models that do not prioritize advertisers over users.
Location: Currently splitting time between Utah and Vermont but as an avid traveler, I am hoping to work primarily on (productive and accountable) remote teams.
If any of this sounds of interest to you, let’s connect!
Hi, I’m a PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania looking at the intersection of Climate Change, Ecological Collapse and Information Technology. I have 20+ years experience in various aspects of the ICT industry, predominately in systems administration and engineering. I’m interested in how we can move from the predominant user centered design paradigm, towards an ecology centered design paradigm. - Lauchlin
You have in my opinion the most important thing: skills, time, and you want to work!
However, I get the impression that you have not overcome your emotional problems.
Something that can happen to all of us and if I were in your place I would try to find a job in the Bay, and if possible, shoot it at the community, Meet other jobs and co-workers who will surely reset your mood.
Much encouragement and go ahead … !!
The social media space continues to seduce people into thinking that #InstagramFame is desirable, and that committing to the performance of certain lifestyles, body images and aspirational endeavours are the way to achieve ‘success’,
As a kid I’s always fascinated by the technology, computers, phones and later smartphones. In my teenage years it was a trend to be a part of social media (in Armenia there were both Russian and American social media platforms, like 
, but in many ways I perceive information differently. Today it’s more than important to be really conscious about your own behavior, so that we control technology, not technology us. 
