This actually happened to me last week at a potluck lunch for knitters and quilters in my city. The lady next to me said, “And now we have to worry about the A1!” I asked, “The steak sauce? Is it woke or something?” She said, “Kate, the A1! You of all people should know about the A1!” I asked, “Is it a road?” She said, “The A1 is …. or is it pronounced AI?” I said, “It is, and you’re already using it every time you Google something.” She said, “I don’t use Google, I use Firefox.” I said, “That’s a browser, not a search engine.” She said, what’s a browser?” I said, “Let go back to talking about quilts.” Sort of funny, but sort of not, because this lady is smart. She was a prosecutor for the county. She’s worried but not educating herself about AI.
I live in a small city in deeply, deeply stupid Florida but it is also in the center of the “Space Coast.” I will be 63 years old this month. We have embattled democratic party organizations. They consist mainly of older, women. Almost all of them say things like, “Door knocking is what really gets votes.” I’m sorry, but that is dangerous wishful thinking! Many of them say things like, “I can’t be bothered with Facebook. I don’t want to know what you had for lunch.” LOL! right? Wrong! Stop congratulating yourselves on not understanding the strength of free, viral marketing and get in the game! Instagram? They’ve heard of it but… Tik Tok? that’s from China! Youtube? that’s for cat videos right? Ugh! (Munch style screaming in my head.) If you are thinking, “Kate, why don’t YOU make the websites, Facebook Groups, Mailchimps and YouTube Channel, for them, duh! I already do. Central Florida Nature Tribe. But, I am tired of doing this alone.
Well it’s different for me, they say. I was a programmer. Again, Ugh. The fact that I was a mainframe programmer, then a database admin, and systems analyst at work does not mean it’s just easier for me to understand laptop computers and iPads folks. It’s about understanding the awesome power of technology and using it to our advantage. I keep teaching myself new technology consistently as those tools become available. I buy computer manuals and read them. I play around with Artificial Intelligence tools and have tried out all the viable alternatives to Twitter. Twitter no longer safeguards our personal data.
I have been in the environmental fight for years here. The City of #Titusville, Florida is suing me, my husband and a handful of others for forcing a measure onto the local ballot last November saying that we the people have the #RightToCleanWater. They don’t want to certify the results of their own election. Sound familiar? The judge has already told them to do their duty but they are appealing the ruling and using our tax dollars to pay their lawyer.
The rest of the people in our group, #SpeakUpTitusville, are not techie and they don’t want to be. For years they have gone to the City Council Meeting armed with real information and tried to shame the City Council members with the facts about fecal matter in our waters, continual sewage dumping, the effects of clear-cutting forests to make cheap housing and one more Dollar Store, but the members don’t listen. These same folks talk urgently to each other about water samples, percentages of PFAS (forever chemicals) in our drinking water and the destruction of horseshoe crab mating sites. They know a lot. What they don’t know is how to disseminate this information in a way the public will pay attention to. And they really don’t care to learn. They are my friends and I love them, but I believe that their resistance to learning more about technology dooms us to keep tilting at windmills. Even those who ARE on Facebook are near impossible to get a SHARE out of. They think “liking” a post has the same effect.
The one thing that I feel could save our local democratic party is convincing every member to get serious about technology. They could and should be sharing information on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Mailchimp and their own websites. Yes, I said it — websites! Now that almost everyone uses WordPress, creating and maintaining your own website is crazy easy. WIX is even easier. If we want to speak to young voters who are working full time or maybe more than full time, and possibly trying to raise small children as well, we can’t expect them to join democratic clubs and go to endless City Council Meetings. Where are they when they finally have a little downtime? They are gaming or on social media.
Please! I’m begging you; stop dissing video games because you think you know what they are. You don’t. Educate yourselves! The best video games teach all kinds of problem solving and collaborative skills. They are proven to treat depression and post traumatic stress disorder. They are an excellent way for older adults such as myself, to retain more of our cognitive function for a longer time. I currently play both Skyrim, Elder Scrolls V and Return to Hogwarts. Both of these are “open world” games and navigating in these worlds is incredibly difficult, even with the maps. If you are older and routinely use a GPS for navigation or live in a town that is very simple to navigate , you should be using games to retain your navigation abilities too. That piece of the brain is tightly connected with several other crucial pieces. Google it! One more thing to consider, My children LOVE helping me “beat my boss” in Skyrim or Hogwarts. My grandchildren (if I ever get some) will love it too I’m sure. It is a bonding experience once your knees give out and you can’t hike with them. In educating yourself about games, start here: