Rolling up our sleeves (pt2)
+ Links, events, sad comedy songs
Welcome to 2025
It’s taken me 4 months to get through post-election Kübler-Ross. Except “acceptance” isn’t the right emotion. Grim determination? Something like that. Here’s a short guide to reclaiming some sanity through positive action:
1. Find your tribe
Responsible Tech Community report (Alltechishuman) includes “curated list of over 100 orgs”.
Another list of communities (ClimateAction.tech).
The SustainableUX LinkedIn group…but it hasn’t achieved critical mass yet. Also on Bluesky.
SUX has a Slack.
2. Tune in
Navigating Chaos Webinar Series (MightyBytes)
If you need to create a meaningful plan of action that drives impactful marketing or advocacy efforts throughout 2025, this series can help. Seasoned experts will share lessons learned from effectively balancing growth and impact during times of chaos.
The next talk is on Coalition- & Community-Building, March 11, 2025; 12:00 PM Central Time. Sign up.
Turning awareness into action with Climate UX (Tristin Oldani @ Rosenfeld)
Rosenfeld Climate UX series have shared their latest webinar, from Jan 16th this year. Also, Rosenfeld’s Climate UX Discussion Series is still recruiting speakers.
3. Volunteer
Volunteering improves mental health. It also helps pad your portfolio.
Idealist. Tip: the search sucks so you need to dig a bit. For instance, a search for “design” had ~8 unrelated opportunities at the top of the results. Also, smaller non-profits often don’t know what they need - so try “website” as well as “user experience” or product.
Volunteer Match is also worth a look. There are also UK postings.
TechJobsForGood have a long list of volunteer-matching sites.
Viz for Social good is great for UI/infographic enthusiasts.
Help develop the Web Sustainability Guidelines - join the W3C interest group.
What will happen to Volunteer.gov? Sounds like everything climate-related will be purged.
4. Find a climate job
5. Look after your mental health
Vox: “How to get through this”
Dan Sinker: “Write it down.”
Links
Predicting the performance of climate change Facebook ads (Yale CCC)
Posts that evoked either a strongly positive or negative emotional response were shared more often than emotionally-neutral posts.
Google Bad: Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance (WaPo)
In 2018, the company introduced policies that excluded applying AI in ways “likely to cause overall harm.” Now that promise is gone.
Google Good: reducing the carbon intensity of AI systems
This google-sponsored paper establishes a new standardized way to measure the carbon intensity of AI. They also claims a x3 improvement in efficiency over the last 4 years.
AI-Generated Slop Is Already In Your Public Library
This Goodreads list gives you a flavor:
Andreessen Horowitz hires Daniel Penny (Bloomberg)
The investors behind everything from AirBnB to Slack make an interesting hiring choice.
Here Come Consequences: Sales of Tesla’s electric vehicles have fallen sharply across many of its key European markets
Tesla SwasticCar sales fell 63% in France; only 17% in the UK. Could we make it 100%? And profits have fallen 70%.
Edward Zitron: Never forgive them
A stronger take on enshittification.
These people want everything from you — to control every moment you spend working with them so that you may provide them with more ways to make money, even if doing so doesn’t involve you getting anything else in return. Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and a majority of tech platforms are at war with the user, and, in the absence of any kind of consistent standards or effective regulations, the entire tech ecosystem has followed suit. A kind of Coalition of the Willing of the worst players in hyper-growth tech capitalism.
Can’t get it out of my head
I keep thinking about - “The world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door”.
Shared by Today in Tabs - The "That Funny Feeling" Coup