Breaking up with Big Tech: A club to help you through it.
A weekly club for people ready to make small, values-aligned changes to the tech they use. In this club, we're not going completely off-grid. It's about getting more intentional with the technology tools we're using on a daily basis- figuring out which tools actually fit your values, and what's realistic for you to change, with support and a little accountability from the group. Mostly virtual, with two in-person bookends. Meet over lunch from your desk or couch, plus two in-person sessions at MLK Library to kick off and close out the series together. Expect the virtual sessions themselves to use some of the alternative tools we're exploring- it will be a great opportunity to assess and test them. Schedule Date Format Topic Monday, October 5 In-person kick off Values benchmarking, threat modeling, and setting up a password manager Monday, October 12 Virtual lunchtime session Browsing + search alternatives Monday, October 19 Virtual lunchtime session Email + messaging alternatives Monday, October 26 Virtual lunchtime session Social media: guest speaker on "pro-social" media Monday, November 2 Virtual lunchtime session Cleanup + data minimization Monday, November 9 Virtual lunchtime session File sharing + cloud storage alternatives Monday, November 16 In-person closing Debrief + celebration Why now? October 4-10 is National Digital Inclusion Week - a perfect time to think about the technology embedded in our lives and how to make it better serve us all. Privacy, misinformation, sustainability, and opaque algorithms have been concerning consumers for years. AI's rapid rise is amplifying those concerns and making these questions harder to ignore, so this is a good moment to pause and reassess the tools we rely on every day. FAQ Is this a course? No formal instruction- it's a club. We'll have guided discussion and content, not step-by-step tutorials, because there's no single right alternative tech tool or system for everyone; it depends on your goals. Looking for a form