The producers of The Social Dilemma brought some serious and valid concerns about the impact of social media platforms to a broad Netflix audience. BUT… 🧵
There were glaring omissions, including insights from those who have been key thought leaders on these topics, including women and people of color.
If you want to engage more deeply in these topics, we urge you to take time to read and learn from those who have been sounding alarm bells for years about how social platforms exacerbate existing inequalities.
Bellow are people to follow, and books and articles to read recommended by Mozillians within the Foundation, and in no particular order:
Author of the best-selling book “Algorithms of Oppression” @safiyanoble’s academic research focuses on the design of digital media platforms on the internet and their impact on society. Read her book and her @pocket curation: https://blog.getpocket.com/2020/06/the-bias-embedded-in-algorithms/
Assoc Professor of African American Studies at Princeton & founder of JUST DATA Lab, @ruha9’s book "Race After Technology" looks at how tech was designed to marginalize & disenfranchise Black people, with ways we can use speculative design to imagine & build abolitionist tech.
"Automated Inequality" by @PopTechWorks is a study of how public policies in the U.S. are designed to further marginalize people living in poverty. She looks at three case studies in which software/algorithms were used by local government and their (terrible) effects.
Labor historian @histoftech’s book "Programmed Inequality" looks at the early generation of female programmers in Britain, and how they were pushed out of computing jobs after WWII because they were women.
UCLA professor of Information Studies @ubiquity75’s book “Behind the Screen” is an eye-opening look at the invisible workers who protect us from seeing the worst of humanity on the internet.
NYU Vice Provost and Media Professor @cmcilwain’s book “Black Software” tells the story of the online racial justice movement spanning nearly five decades and involving a varied group of engineers, entrepreneurs, hobbyists, journalists, and activists.
CEO of @blockpartyapp_, @triketora is an investor, cofounder of Project Include and former engineer at Pinterest, USDS, and Quora. She was early to raise awareness about issues with lack of diversity in Silicon Valley.
Founder of @Backstage_Cap, @ArlanWasHere’s book "It's About Damn Time" is about her journey to becoming a venture capitalist.
Former VC, ex-Reddit and cofounder of @projectinclude, @ekp is a strong advocate for women in tech and author of “Reset” — the story of a whistleblower who aims to empower everyone struggling to be heard.
Former CTO for the Obama administration and ex engineering director at Twitter, Slack, Google, and Apple, @shaft is an adviser to several startups founded by women and minorities and is an investor in a fund dedicated to diverse entrepreneurs.
#MozillaFellow @IfeomaOzoma worked on policy at Pinterest and is speaking out on racism and bias in the company.
Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia @sivavaid authored a powerful critique “Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects us and Undermines Democracy”
Executive Director of @Internet_SF, an organization that defends digital rights and access to the internet, @JulieOwono is also a member of the Oversight Board at Facebook.
We know this isn’t a definitive list, and we want to hear from you. Please respond to this thread with additional voices and perspectives you think should have been featured in the documentary.
Correction: @IfeomaOzoma is not a Mozilla Fellow but is a fantastic tech policy expert worth following. @shaft is CTO at the Obama Foundation, not Administration.
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