Hello Max and thank you for helping to create this movement. I just published a self introduction. My group, the Raging Grannies, would like to meet with any leaders in the movement who would be near Palo Alto during the week of Feb 19. The artist of the sculpture in Palo Alto that was built to question the use of technology will be in town from NYC then. She wishes to discuss commonalities in thinking and how to best approach the issue. The Grannies have led protests of the slated removal of the statue by the city, which is why we would accompany her.
Thank you
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Hi, the main article can be accessed here:
and a shorter blog here
Iād be really interested in any thoughts!
Susie
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Hello. My name is Michael Harrington. I am a former academic and social science researcher in addition to being a longtime creator in digital media as a musician, photographer, and author. Iāve long been fascinated by the nexus of my various interests by studying human behavior and creativity. Research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Daniel Kahneman has deeply informed my understanding.
A great focus for understanding our world today is at the intersection of human creativity and social connection. Psychology and the humanities provide the essential foundation for the human experience. Psychologists have long focused on differentiating healthy productive behavior from pathologies and successful killer technologies are those that promote human needs rather than pathologies.
This is the focus of a short book I wrote, titled The Ulitmate Killer App: How Technology Succeeds, that also motivated a social media start-up that narrowly focuses on sharing and connecting on original creative content. http://www.tukaglobal.com
We are not doomed because human beings crave meaning and concerted efforts like this will preserve our humanity. I hope to be able to contribute. Itās a Brave New World.
Hi Everyone. My name is Julia Storm and I am so please to be part of this discussion. My background is in Film and Television Production. I worked for many years as the Director of Production for The Mother Company; a production company creating media for young children based on social-emotional curricula. The companyās social-emotional based mission, spoke to my belief in education and communication as the keys to raising children to be happy, conscious and ethical citizens of the world.
During my tenure at The Mother Company I started to develop an interest in the role that screens play in the social/emotional well-being of children. Watching my own child struggle against the addictive and seductive nature of screens, I decided to dig deeper. I began reaching out to researchers, psychologists, and journalists in the quest to better understand the way digital technology - specifically mobile devices - were impacting children, schools and family systems. Looking around my community and listening to other parents it became clear to me that parents were at a loss for how to manage the infiltration of digital devices in their own families. It is becoming increasingly clear that this is THE most complex and confounding issue for parents in the 21st century.
So I eventually left my job to start my own business helping both parents and children understand, navigate and thrive in the digital world. I culled together all my research and created the ReConnect program, a series of workshops designed to educate parents about both the positive and negative effects of screen use in order to help them better maintain health, balance and harmony in their livesā¦ I truly believe that Knowledge is Power and as such I am on a mission to educate. Through my work I am at āground zeroā as it were, boots on the ground! Aside from running ReConnect, I am also the head of the Digital Citizenship Committee at LAUSDās Blue Ribbon award-winning Wonderland Elementary, working with the administration and parent community to implement a robust Digital Citizenship curriculum and Parent Ed program. I am currently in the process of reaching out to as many public schools as I can in the Los Angeles area to make sure that this information gets to everyone who needs it - not just those with financial privilege.
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Hi everyone,
Iām Kafi and I currently lead marketing and comms for a large nonprofit focused on the social and emotional health of kids.
Iām interested in your work because all of the data we get from teachers and principals (K-5) is telling us that theyāre having an increasingly difficult time in school getting kids to interact and empathize with others, develop conflict-resolution skills etc. I think tech is fantastic in terms of (hopefully) equalizing access to knowledge, but for our kids, when itās not regulated or at least tempered, becomes a social crutch and an obsession. Really interested in how I can get involved in this movement.
Cheers,
K
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Greetings from SF! Iām the Founder of a startup called Promontory Brands. Weāve created a tool (Sky) that helps companies collaborate on innovation by housing: strategy, ideation, research and creativity all in one place. Iāve been an early follower of Time Well Spent and within our product dev process we make sure weāve incorporated best practices. Looking forward to hearing and learning from this community and would love to pioneer with all of you on humane tech policy, etcā¦ Letās stay human!
Hi everyone!
My name is Ranieri Filho and Iām from SĆ£o Paulo, Brazil.
Iām very glad to be part of this group and I hope to get great insights about how we can truly use technology for good, eventually contributing to the discussion with my humble opinions and point of views. The purpose of the Humane Tech Community is something that Iāve been thinking for a long time, and I feel this is an excellent place to create a common ground and spread the word of how we, as a society, can turn the full power of technology to create a more humane, equal, and fair world.
My background is in Information Technology: Iām a Computer Engineer, worked 7 years for Oracle as Sales Executive, and currently Iām a Sales Engineer for a local consulting firm called V8 Consulting.
Please, if you think I can be of any help, donāt hesitate to contact me. I will be glad to help.
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Hi! Iām a Childrenās Librarian for Santa Clara County Library in Milpitas, CA. Iām interested in providing resources, programs, support, etc to parents and children in navigating technology and developing skills and awareness in self-regulation of technology for personal health.
Iāve worked with kids of all ages for many years. Most recently my colleagues and I presented a lesson/workshop of programming Dash and Dot robots using coding through such apps as Blockly for kids in grades 3 to 5. Children are very much interested and also concerned about robots. In discussion the kids are well aware of what the future could bring, i.e. ārobots could take us over.ā
My response to them has been to encourage them to think about what they would do and how they would respond. Keeping in mind that just because a car can drive up to 150 mph, if we were to drive that fast doesnāt mean we do - thanks to speed limits, laws and regulations.
Iām looking forward to participating in the Humane Tech Community!
onward and in spirit, Lauren
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Hi, all. My name is Haley and I am an undergraduate student at University of Illinois @ Chicago where I study/conduct research in cognitive psychology and cultural anthropology. Iām currently in the midst of a project exploring the effects of a visually salient phone on cognitive capacity as one completes a task (i.e., does having your phone next to you, face-up, affect your ability to concentrate?) Aside from my interest in this cause, you can find me reading works in my academic fields, preparing for grad school, or playing music.
This movement is extremely important to me, and I came to it mostly out of my own struggles with internet addiction. I am on a large college campus where there are constantly events happening, ideas being discussed, speakers being invited, student organizations recruiting, causes being advocated for, and so much more. But not once have I ever seen anything related to the kinds of issues we are concerned with here at Humane Tech. I want to change this, but am not sure how to proceed. I suppose Iām unsure what form I would want the advocacy to take, or how I would like people to become aware. But the fact that this is not discussed at my universityā at least not on a large scale, or that I know ofā is getting to me, and I feel very antsy to take some sort of action. I have a few relationships with higher-ups/administrators and would love to discuss this with them, but I am struggling with what it is I should propose.
I did not intend on making this an advice-seeking post, and I will likely post it in a more suitable place. But, it has nevertheless been on my mind.
I look forward to engaging with this community and seeing it grow!
Haley
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Hello, everyone.
My name is Derek B. Miller. Iām a novelist and an international affairs professional. I wrote Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, and American by Day (forthcoming in April). Iām currently working on a new novel that ā in part ā features a television show with a central theme of technology addiction (in teenagers, mostly, but not exclusively) and the effort of families to win-back a quieter time when the world was more social because it was less connected.
Previously I was Ph.D in international relations (Geneva, Oxford) and a MA in national security (Georgetown) with about a decade working on arms control and disarmament at the UN in Geneva. Iām based in Oslo, Norway now and come from Boston.
This is an excellent initiative and even skimming over the introductions here, weāre clearly looking at some very impressive people with experience, insight, resources, and drive. With some strategy and clarity of purpose, I wonder what we can do ā¦
Thanks for having me here.
Derek Miller
PS. One of the ironies of an internet group thatās working against internet addiction is that ā surprise! ā Iām not on line much. But Iāll make an effort to engage.
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Hello Everyone,
My name is Stephanie Durant. Iām a IT Business Analyst and have been for two separate charity organisations.
Professionally I try and help business adopt technology (or better use current technology) to improve their processes and for them to become more efficient, though in my current position I mostly work with data and reporting. Iām very interested in bringing technology to improve people lives, though mostly through making their life/processes easier (not looking to replace anyone/automate jobs).
I went to college for computer programming and decidedly didnāt particularly enjoy the actual coding, but rather became a link between the business and the developers (though I try to make the developers life easier by leading business demands towards current capabilities and have become quite good at making it think it is their idea).
Why I decided to come here was that I do have many side projects in life, but have become wholely too attached to mindlessly browsing social medias and Reddit. I think my time is usually better spent with friends, doing my own project or learning new things.
But the real issue was with Facebook. All the misinformation (read fake news) I see my mother/relatives/friends sharing without even first reading the articles. Believing absolute nonsense while ignoring very real problems of the world. All of the bots, Russians using the Facebook as a means of utilizing mob psychology, we are heading down a very bad road as a society.
Thank you for creating this community of like minded people, I think this is the start of us fighting back against the all consuming technological future I see ahead of us. I donāt want to be a part of creating it, I want to know what I can do to help make it a more human future.
(Sorry for the rambling!!)
Steph
Hi!
My nameās Alexandre, actually be as IT professional. I have a passion for history, philosophy andā¦ aviation 
I always have in mind this statement : in the good old time, there was one thing people had : time.
Our whole knowledge couldnāt have grown without timeā¦ that is now being stolen by social mediaās and marketing money.
Human first 
Thanks for creating this community
Hello, Sotiris here says hello to all and congratulations for the initiative!
I worked for Nokia for 12 years, from Networks to Mobile devices, delivered 5 of those in the market between 2006-2012. Now Iām on a mission to democratize education with technology with my own startup.
Made the mistake to give my own kids mobile phones and tablets from a very young age. So I have a very personal view of how addictive and how much interconnectivity is messing up the kidās minds.
The first observation is that fantasy and the improvisation skill are replaced with hours holding the narccistic loving screen towards their face. Would love to share my experience and thoughts and energy in this initiative. I think is super cool and good for humanity.
I hope the team is ready to project manage the volunteers and you do have a solid plan. Iām ready to support, show me the plan! 
Im based in Finland but an original Greek, Philosopher at heart.
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Hello,
I am Jasper Sprengers, living in the Netherlands (Eindhoven area). I have worked in software for the last 18 years in a variety of development roles, with different techniques and for different clients.
I am a regular blogger about technology and not always nerd-to-nerd.
I have noticed myself getting ever more critical (with a good deal of exasperation) of what I consider missed opportunities in every aspect of software development. As an individual whoās not working for one of the Silicon Valley giants you canāt make much of a dent in the way people (ab)use technology, regrettably.
That is why I am also turning to art to express what I have to say. I staged a play with like-minded actors about a dysfunctional software company and performed it for several IT-teams. I believe thereās a role for modern-day (amateur) drama to bring some of todayās most poignant issues to the fore. Imagine Black Mirror on stage, without the CGI effects.
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Hi I am Qing Ping, currently based in Singapore. This movement really resonates with what I believe society needs at this moment. A little more heart for one another, a little more time to find what is truly important to us, and a little more push to strive for something bigger than ourselves.
I currently volunteer for The Hidden Good - aims to be a community platform that reveals the good in society and the world us. They carry out this strong social agenda through social experiments, guerrilla movements of kindness and youth activation.
And with Participate In Design - Its goal for Community Centric Design that aims to bring together public institutions and designers with the actual stakeholders of the built environment. They have a strong mission towards empowering the community to participate in and influence the design and planning process of their environment.
http://participateindesign.org/about/organisation/
And follow closely the ideas from The Thought Collective and The School of Life that both seek to build up the emotional capital of society and improve our understanding of ourselves and a meaningful life to be lived. Links as below:
http://thethoughtcollective.com.sg/
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Hi, Iām Rachel. I was an early volunteer and one of the first employees at Couchsurfing, running all aspects of community safety for roughly 7 years. After that I was with the Wikimedia Foundation for 2 years, again working with communities (more on the collaboration side). I am now obtaining a masters in humanitarian action with an intention to move into that line of work, as community safety on a global scale is something I couldnāt shake. While I believe that while my time spent in tech was spent on initiatives promoting social good, my interests simply moved me out of the community support within tech and more on the ground.
Having spent a decade embedded in the people side of tech, I care deeply about how online safety and privacy affects lives and have a deep understanding of online conflict and harassment, abuse mitigation, policy and product working in tandem with community building and incident response to create safer communities, moderation and privacy controls, and other topics of this nature. Iām interested in this because while I move away from working in tech, many parts of the world are gaining more access to technology and overall it is becoming more integrated into our lives, and I share concerns with, I suspect, many others around the ethics of implementation and innovation.
I wonāt have much time to be active here, but am grateful to see such a community forming.
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Hi, Iām Fabrice. Iāve been a digital product manager for something like 15 years, mostly in Paris, as an entrepreneur and as an employee.
Lately, Iāve been astonished to see that so little was done in France in the Product community about the attention economy and our digital responsibility. A lot of product managers and designers I know or meet are aware of the dangers of Facebook, for example, but do not seem to understand that they could conceive their own products differently.
Iām trying to find an actionable way to make people aware and empowered about this. I still donāt know how : a label for products, training courses to be able to understand dark patterns of business, design, growthā¦ But if no one takes the lead, nothing will happen.
Hi, Iām Katharine. I live in East Texas. I love the idea of this movement! Iām working on trying to find a healthy balance of internet activity in my life; discerning what is necessary and what isnāt. My current situation requires that I use it quite a lot, but my plan is to disconnect as much as possible when that changes. Iām 56 so I look wistfully back to the days of one phone on the kitchen wall, letter writing, card catalogues, typerwriters, etc. and etc. Nice to meet you all 
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Hi! Iām a writer & editor in book publishing, specializing in mind-body-spirit wellness, and the coauthor of Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues. Iām particularly interested in technology use by non-neurotypical children and adults and have been researching what little is out there on this particular topic. My son was 2 when he began watching videos and playing computer games and is now in college and aspires to work in tech. Tech is here to stay, but how can we have more control over it when self-control apps get disabled so that we donāt have tools to control our usage? How can we balance physical time with sitting time, nature time with indoor time, socialization face-to-face time with socialization through tech time? These are the questions he and I discuss all the time, sharing insights and ideas.
I have seen extremes in schoolsāstigma against kids with learning disabilities who gravitate to tech and really do need Khan Academy and overuse of tech including for standardized testing. Whoever created progressive multiple choice tests taken on computer must never have met an actual human child! Horrible invention.
Iām eager to learn more and be involved in giving human beings, including kids, more tools for mindfully using social media, video games, and technology.
My name is not something I am comfortable sharing right now as I am a Medically Retired member of the United States Army and recently discovered that I have an Autism Spectrum Disorder and am concerned as It is now so obvious to me how it has affected my entire life, including my success and failures in the Army. When I joined Social Media I never knew the danger it could pose someone with and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Especially one who didnāt know about the disorder until recently. I saw a piece on CHT and was intrigued. I do not belong to any communities other than a few support ones that do not hook you in like some do. I am merely interested in following the discussion as unknowingly, social media was something that destroyed my life in terms of how I trust and interact with others now, I understand why, and am curious to follow the discussion when it comes to people with developmental disorders, especially those diagnosed late in life. You can call me Chad, but my name is something as a former Police officer could hurt my ability to receive benefits from my military disabilities. Chad is my real first name.
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