#Tag
After 400+ issues tracking digital literacy, I'm convinced the biggest AI risk isn't machines getting too smart. It's us getting too comfortable with cognitive shortcuts.
New analysis: Why "useful friction" might be the most important concept for our automated age.
Full analysis with research links: https://digitallyliterate.net/dl-401/
There's a popular "digital rights" perspective that turns "not having kids on social media before 14 or 16" into a binary. That allows to make this a thing about overreach and censorship and all that. In combination with the complexities of ensuring access/restrictions it builds a great straw man.
But I do totally think that just throwing kids into general social media (think Instagram, TikTok but also Bluesky or Mastodon) is harmful to them and is just us older people being lazy and not wanting to give them time to grow into this digital life.
But it's not a binary. There is value in creating spaces for kids to express themselves and find community and their own voice. Question is how to build that in ways to protect them - not just from creeps but also the negative side effects of many commercial social media platforms.
It's not "but Kids need to learn to live with social media so let's throw them on TikTok". It's about figuring out ways for kids (or TBH some older people as well) to make those experiences in the digital "non-swimmer's pool". (Not sure if digital swimmers exist.)
"figuring out ways for kids (or TBH some older people as well) to make those experiences in the digital "non-swimmer's pool"
this would give folks the right + enough time to learn how to integrate digital aspects into their lives, without being all consumed and overwhelmed (=drowned)!
EXCLUSIVE: #Labour warned library cuts on Scotland's largest local authority risked worsening the country's 'shameful attainment gap'.
Chris McCall Deputy Political Editor, 02 Aug 2025
Excerpt: "Glasgow Life, which manages the library service for the council, is proposing to take 16 librarians out of the city's education system. The plans would see the school service headed up by a principal librarian along with three area-based librarians, while an 'assistant' would be placed in high schools.
"An online petition against the cuts and shared among parents has since been signed more than 1,300 times.
"Joy McLean said she was concerned about how a decline in #LibraryServices would impact her daughter and other pupils. '#Librarians are essential #educators who foster a love of #reading, support research and #DigitalLiteracy, and help students thrive #academically and personally,' she added."
Read more:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/librarian-cuts-glasgow-schools-rob-35659625
#LibrariesRule! #EducationCuts #ScotlandPol#LoveOfReading #BuildingCommunity#Literacy#SupportingResearch#CriticalThinkingSkills
EXCLUSIVE: #Labour warned library cuts on Scotland's largest local authority risked worsening the country's 'shameful attainment gap'.
Chris McCall Deputy Political Editor, 02 Aug 2025
Excerpt: "Glasgow Life, which manages the library service for the council, is proposing to take 16 librarians out of the city's education system. The plans would see the school service headed up by a principal librarian along with three area-based librarians, while an 'assistant' would be placed in high schools.
"An online petition against the cuts and shared among parents has since been signed more than 1,300 times.
"Joy McLean said she was concerned about how a decline in #LibraryServices would impact her daughter and other pupils. '#Librarians are essential #educators who foster a love of #reading, support research and #DigitalLiteracy, and help students thrive #academically and personally,' she added."
Read more:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/librarian-cuts-glasgow-schools-rob-35659625
#LibrariesRule! #EducationCuts #ScotlandPol#LoveOfReading #BuildingCommunity#Literacy#SupportingResearch#CriticalThinkingSkills
When systems stop singing, we need to listen to the silence. Then we need to build better ways to communicate.
I've noticed something disturbing: our communication systems are breaking down the same way nature does under stress.
Digitally Literate is evolving.
New look, better navigation, same thoughtful Sunday insights.
Issue #398 drops this weekend → https://buttondown.com/digitallyliterate
🧠 New post: The Bridge Between AI and Your Tools
MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets your AI follow you across apps—with the right notes, at the right time.
From static tools to a thinking partner.
Read more: https://wiobyrne.com/how-mcp-unlocks-personal-ai/
Substack is terrible - but even people who know it don't want to leave the platform – a tale in 3 acts.
Act I
Tech journalist Taylor Lorenz published a scoop a few days ago, showing how "Substack sent a push alert promoting a Nazi blog" (if you don't want to give #Substack a click, here is an alt link https://archive.ph/FTjEH).
It was a terrific and disturbing piece - kudos to her.
Act II (plot twist)
People started pointing out that Lorenz herself is using Substack as the publishing platform for her blog - which she monetizes with subscriptions. So, very ballsy move on her part to criticize the platform that she relies on to make a living, but still, some people started pointing out the incongruity of this. What about her values? Why wouldn't she move her newsletter?
Lorenz was starting to get fed up with these comments and explained on Bluesky (alt link / snapshot if you don't want to give Bluesky a click: https://archive.ph/CePll)
" Them: Get off substack
Me: Ok I set up a Patreon. The features aren’t as good but I’m willing to take a hit and do a lot more time consuming work on the back end to make it work. Here’s where you can subscribe to support me. Once enough people hop over I’ll be able to make the jump
Them: crickets "
She followed up that post with the comment:
" A lot of people on here want to attack and punish creators (esp women and LGBTQ ppl) for being forced to rely on certain platforms to make a living, but aren’t actually willing to support those creators in a way that allows them to leave the platforms ur so critical of them being forced to rely on. "
Fair enough.
Act III (in which I insert myself)
I don't post on Bluesky anymore but I felt compelled to resuscitate my account to point out that Substack is not only terrible, but it's also very expensive and takes the BIGGEST cut out of all other newsletter platforms.
I wrote:
" With all due respect Taylor, moving away from Substack is the ethical choice and it also makes financial sense. The great Molly White compiled a detailed breakdown of how much money creators who rely on subscriptions could save... by switching over to other platforms. "
And I linked to Molly White's brilliant post: https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/114319870485786053
I also added a link to the article by @micahflee : "Not only is Substack right-wing broligarchy garbage, it's way more expensive than Ghost" https://micahflee.com/not-only-is-substack-right-wing-broligarchy-garbage-its-way-more-expensive-than-ghost/
Lorenz responded:
"Again, I am on Patreon and have had the option to receive my newsletter directly outside of Substack since day 1. Only 3 people have ever taken me up on this. By the way I cover Substack and the only reason I got the scoop I got it from being in the platform. Hence why I’ll always have an acct"
I just replied to her that #Ghost offers a free concierge migration service (https://ghost.org/concierge/) where she could move over all her paid subscribers... and I said that IMHO she could still use Substack Notes to share her articles if she moved elsewhere... but staying on Substack and giving them 10% of her earnings feels like an implicit endorsement.
I meant that in the most empathetic way. I can understand her struggles but she has 87,000 subscribers and if she wanted to move she could simply ask for help and I'm sure people would volunteer to set her up somewhere else. If she did so on the Fediverse she'd have a self-hosted account on a VPS in less than 24 hours.
Lest you think I want to "attack and publish creators (especially women)" like in Lorenz's words on Bluesky, well, I'm a woman who started self-hosting only 6 months ago and I now run my own Ghost blog which I manually installed. It's not that unattainable.
Maybe it's just me, but I believe that the tech we use sends an important message about our values and the causes we support. Everything is politics now. Including our tech stack.
#DigitalLiteracy #DigitalCoup #A16Z #Broligarchy
Substack is terrible - but even people who know it don't want to leave the platform – a tale in 3 acts.
Act I
Tech journalist Taylor Lorenz published a scoop a few days ago, showing how "Substack sent a push alert promoting a Nazi blog" (if you don't want to give #Substack a click, here is an alt link https://archive.ph/FTjEH).
It was a terrific and disturbing piece - kudos to her.
Act II (plot twist)
People started pointing out that Lorenz herself is using Substack as the publishing platform for her blog - which she monetizes with subscriptions. So, very ballsy move on her part to criticize the platform that she relies on to make a living, but still, some people started pointing out the incongruity of this. What about her values? Why wouldn't she move her newsletter?
Lorenz was starting to get fed up with these comments and explained on Bluesky (alt link / snapshot if you don't want to give Bluesky a click: https://archive.ph/CePll)
" Them: Get off substack
Me: Ok I set up a Patreon. The features aren’t as good but I’m willing to take a hit and do a lot more time consuming work on the back end to make it work. Here’s where you can subscribe to support me. Once enough people hop over I’ll be able to make the jump
Them: crickets "
She followed up that post with the comment:
" A lot of people on here want to attack and punish creators (esp women and LGBTQ ppl) for being forced to rely on certain platforms to make a living, but aren’t actually willing to support those creators in a way that allows them to leave the platforms ur so critical of them being forced to rely on. "
Fair enough.
Act III (in which I insert myself)
I don't post on Bluesky anymore but I felt compelled to resuscitate my account to point out that Substack is not only terrible, but it's also very expensive and takes the BIGGEST cut out of all other newsletter platforms.
I wrote:
" With all due respect Taylor, moving away from Substack is the ethical choice and it also makes financial sense. The great Molly White compiled a detailed breakdown of how much money creators who rely on subscriptions could save... by switching over to other platforms. "
And I linked to Molly White's brilliant post: https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/114319870485786053
I also added a link to the article by @micahflee : "Not only is Substack right-wing broligarchy garbage, it's way more expensive than Ghost" https://micahflee.com/not-only-is-substack-right-wing-broligarchy-garbage-its-way-more-expensive-than-ghost/
Lorenz responded:
"Again, I am on Patreon and have had the option to receive my newsletter directly outside of Substack since day 1. Only 3 people have ever taken me up on this. By the way I cover Substack and the only reason I got the scoop I got it from being in the platform. Hence why I’ll always have an acct"
I just replied to her that #Ghost offers a free concierge migration service (https://ghost.org/concierge/) where she could move over all her paid subscribers... and I said that IMHO she could still use Substack Notes to share her articles if she moved elsewhere... but staying on Substack and giving them 10% of her earnings feels like an implicit endorsement.
I meant that in the most empathetic way. I can understand her struggles but she has 87,000 subscribers and if she wanted to move she could simply ask for help and I'm sure people would volunteer to set her up somewhere else. If she did so on the Fediverse she'd have a self-hosted account on a VPS in less than 24 hours.
Lest you think I want to "attack and publish creators (especially women)" like in Lorenz's words on Bluesky, well, I'm a woman who started self-hosting only 6 months ago and I now run my own Ghost blog which I manually installed. It's not that unattainable.
Maybe it's just me, but I believe that the tech we use sends an important message about our values and the causes we support. Everything is politics now. Including our tech stack.
#DigitalLiteracy #DigitalCoup #A16Z #Broligarchy
The UK gov look like complete digitally illiterate idiots. The disaster of huge VPN uptake as a consequence of ill thought out simplistic age verification policy in the UK is stupid beyond credibility. We ARE led by donkeys. I said a while back that AI policy (in HE, and at national level) is being made by ppl who don't even know what a VPN is to indicate level of naïve ignorance. Now we know just how true that is.
#ukpol #ageverification #digitalliteracy #academia #academicchatter
The UK gov look like complete digitally illiterate idiots. The disaster of huge VPN uptake as a consequence of ill thought out simplistic age verification policy in the UK is stupid beyond credibility. We ARE led by donkeys. I said a while back that AI policy (in HE, and at national level) is being made by ppl who don't even know what a VPN is to indicate level of naïve ignorance. Now we know just how true that is.
#ukpol #ageverification #digitalliteracy #academia #academicchatter
🚀 Digital literacy isn’t just using tech — it’s owning your space, connecting ideas, and growing knowledge over time.
Let’s rethink digital literacy as agency and curiosity, not just skills.
How are YOU creating personal digital learning spaces that empower and connect?
https://wiobyrne.com/how-my-digital-garden-supports.../
#DigitalLiteracy#EdTech#PersonalLearning#DigitalGarden#LifelongLearning
🌱 My digital garden is more than notes; it’s a living, evolving space where learning happens out loud — messy, ongoing, and real.
💡 Imagine students owning their learning beyond the LMS walls, building digital identities, and reflecting openly.
https://wiobyrne.com/how-my-digital-garden-supports.../
#DigitalLiteracy#EdTech#PersonalLearning#DigitalGarden#LifelongLearning
🚀 Digital literacy isn’t just using tech — it’s owning your space, connecting ideas, and growing knowledge over time.
Let’s rethink digital literacy as agency and curiosity, not just skills.
How are YOU creating personal digital learning spaces that empower and connect?
https://wiobyrne.com/how-my-digital-garden-supports.../
#DigitalLiteracy#EdTech#PersonalLearning#DigitalGarden#LifelongLearning
Good morning!!!
While everyone in the house is asleep, I’m delighted to finally catch @pluralistic ‘s brilliant conversation with @mike at SXSW’s #FediverseHouse (from early March) https://about.flipboard.com/fediverse/cory-doctorow/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub (via @mia)
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
