logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Once Social Network Creators, Now Nonprofit Social Crusaders?

Rob Meiksins
February 6, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

February 4, 2018; New York Times

One of the most common workshops offered these days to people who manage nonprofit organizations is how to take advantage of social networking. It is the future, we are told, and we need to know how to leverage networks to our advantage in order to maximize our users and our donors. In the midst of all of this, a new nonprofit has been created whose mission is to minimize the use of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and so on—the very sites nonprofits are learning how to use. The twist is that this new nonprofit, the Center for Humane Technology, has been founded by some of the tech industry luminaries who started those sites.

The dangers are many, the movement argues, including depression and the potential disruption of the fabric of society by design features such as “auto-play” that encourage addiction to our devices and reduce face-to-face social connectivity. The people making the case should know, as they are founders and developers of Facebook, Google, Apple, Mozilla, and other lynchpins of the technology and social boom. The founders are launching a new campaign called Truth About Tech that aims to educate students, parents, and teachers about the dangers of overuse of social media networking. The nonprofit has received $7 million from Common Sense Media, which also has secured another $50 million in donated media.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

One former executive of Facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya, has come out and said that he has stopped using the product he helped to develop because he does not want to be “programmed.” In essence, he argues we rely too heavily on these media to determine what we view, what information we receive, and what products we are encouraged to purchase. This all becomes worse when we see that the media giants have the most powerful computers in the world and are focusing more and more of their attention on children.

The Center hopes to have an impact in four areas:

  • Inspire humane design that does not encourage us to pursue more and more short-term and simplified gratification, such as the number of followers or likes we have.
  • Lobby governmental bodies to encourage humane design among businesses and share the negative impact these technologies have.
  • Build awareness and create a movement against these products as being harmful, in much the same way the movement around tobacco was successful.
  • Engage employees of these companies to have an impact from the inside.

In reality, this may be trying to shut the barn door after the horse has already bolted. Recently, AdWeek ran a piece suggesting that the average person spends 40 minutes on YouTube, 35 minutes on Facebook, 25 minutes on Snapchat, and 15 minutes on Instagram every day. That would add up to more than five years spent on social sites in a lifetime.

Nonprofits might wish to ask themselves: If we are trying to better the world, close the education gap, and strengthen the bonds of community, how can we ensure that our work achieves these valuable goals and does not inadvertently abet socially damaging technological addictions?—Rob Meiksins

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Meiksins

Rob has served in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years in roles ranging from intern to program manager, executive director to board director, and consultant. Starting out in professional theatre in New York City, Rob moved to Milwaukee to work with Milwaukee Rep as the dramaturg. Later, he started to work more and more helping people and organizations in the nonprofit sector articulate, and then take the next step towards their vision. Currently he is working on a new effort to establish an intentional process for nonprofits to identify their capacity-building needs and then learn about and implement the tools that will help. Ideally this is a partnership between nonprofits, consultants, and the philanthropic community to strengthen the sector we all see as critical.

More about: Management and LeadershipNonprofit NewsSocial MediaTechnology

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Why Tech Nonprofits Are Building Digital Tools for Racial Equity and Justice
Sakshi Udavant
Technology for Whom? Owning Our Platforms
Minsun Ji
A Better Way to Do Good: The Case for Comprehensive Community Care
Erin Mulligan Nelson
Grave Work
Phil Jones
How to Make Better Decisions Online
Josh Lerner and Rose Longhurst

Popular Webinars

Remaking the Economy

Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories

Register Now

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements

Register Now

Remaking the Economy

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

Register Now
You might also like
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Why Tech Nonprofits Are Building Digital Tools for Racial...
Sakshi Udavant
Technology for Whom? Owning Our Platforms
Minsun Ji

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.