Emailing like it's 2005
Because algorithms have ruined our social media feeds so we've got to be the grown-ups in the room
A couple of weeks ago, I started editing a daily email series (here) designed to help people (white people, mainly) get educated and take action for the liberation of Palestine.
Here are some of the comments and objections I’ve heard.
“But people don’t read their personal email anymore.”
“If you want people to see it, you’ll have to do more than just email.”
“Will you re-post to social media so I make sure to see it?”
Here’s the thing: if we want to get the information that we actually need, the stuff that’s really valuable and is going to keep us informed and in the fight for social justice and equity, using email gives us much more control over what we get to see.
Email = control over our information
By now, I’m sure we’ve all heard that the social media algorithms are distorting our feeds, trying to keep us from seeing the important stuff (like, you know, actual news). All in an effort to make sure we consume a steady diet of light, fun, inconsequential stuff - the kind of content they want us to see to encourage us to buy things.
We’re seeing a lot of content, but it’s not useful to us. It’s useful to the social media companies and their advertisers. It’s meant to line their pockets and make sure we’re uninformed and compliant according to their preferred view of the world.
Social media algorithms are designed to manipulate us, to reinforce the behaviors the social media companies want from us: consume content/buy, consume content/buy - rinse, repeat.
We are being manipulated for the sake of profits and it’s turning us into ignorant assholes.
I refuse to behave.
I refuse to be compliant.
I refuse to be a “nice” white woman any longer.
I refuse to agree to disagree.
I’m resisting.
I’m doing the whitework of activating white people, including myself, for the sake of every human on this planet.
I’m calling bullshit on the laziness of the bubble of social media light news. And I’m calling it out for what it really is: a product of racist, capitalist systems.
Unless we want to be fed a steady diet of content that tells us how great and important white people and our systems of white supremacy are, we have to reject the algorithms.
If we want to be truly informed about what matters to us, we’re going to have to stop relying on social media companies and take control of our consumption. We have to start using email again to stay in touch with people we want to hear from, and to get our news. Just like we did back in 2005.
Actually, if we want to yank control over our news consumption back from social media companies, what we need to do is develop two new habits. Sorry, I know this is a bummer, but it’s time to grow up and be adults about our news and media habits.
Time to take control back.
First, we’ll have to go to the actual websites (or apps) for our news and information media (like Substack) and organizations of interest, and search for the information we want to see.
Then, we’ll have to sign up for email newsletters and - here’s the kicker - make it a habit to at least open these emails regularly.
For me, this means knowing the topics I want to be informed about include abortion rights, the U.S. Supreme Court, what the U.S. state attorneys general are doing, systems of poverty, white Christian nationalism, decisions that have environmental impact, and news of places where human rights abuses and genocide are happening, like Palestine, Sudan, the Congo and Haiti.
And, because my views are heavily human-rights-centered and I want to be not just informed but also useful in the fight for social justice, I make it a point to learn about different perspectives beyond my own. So I subscribe to a news aggregator service called Ground News that shows me who is reporting on which issues, here (they are not a sponsor of my work).
The stakes couldn’t be higher; we have to do this for the next generations.
If we want to
halt global warming and environmental disasters before they get any worse;
change our democracies into governments that really do represent all people and not just the white people currently in power;
make sure women and LGBTQIA+ people have representation and rights all over the world;
demand better social systems that take care of everybody, including the poor, disabled, sick and all marginalized people;
put a stop to genocide and settler colonialism; and
in the U.S. in particular, put an end to gun violence culture once and for all…
It’s up to each of us. Nobody can do this work for you.
We have to be the adults in the room. And start using email like it’s 2005 again.
To make sure we see the information that’s important to us, not the fluff and nonsense the media companies keep force-feeding us for their own benefit.
Work harder at getting informed. Be a better human.
Start with these two action-focused sources: