Very Offline Club - a manifesto, Toronto Life feature, and a schedule update
Why the Very Offline Club? (a working manifesto)
- because we take back control of our attention spans, our connections, our concerns, our outrage, and our imaginations from algorithmic manipulation
- because we uplift direct connections with each other and the living world, unmediated by abstracted code
- because we build the capacity to examine the digital tools used against us and we exercise agency in our digital worlds
- because we pause to question the social, environmental, and global impacts of digital technologies
- because we don't just want digital access or representation in tech; we want digital autonomy for the people
- because we seek to expand our capacities for nuance, complexity, and the resilience of our social ties
- because we value the full range of human experience, not just that which is profitable
- because we practice refusal to the agendas of tech oligarchies and fascist state actors
- because we don't want to be numbed out or distracted or living in simulated worlds while the real world burns
- because we want to be engaged with, alive to, and actively shape the living world
If this resonates, you're in the right place. :) I'm looking forward to building this work together.
Toronto Life Feature
A little while ago I had the chance to chat with journalist Luc Rinaldi about my journey to the Very Offline Club. Luc has a personal and professional interest in the impacts of smartphone and social media usage, and you may have met him at one of our events!
The piece is out now in the July issue of Toronto Life: "Why this activist is taking the fight offline". And check out his full deep dive "Save Me From My Screen".
Schedule Update:
I'm cancelling next week's July 29th Offline Social.
We will be back August 12th with the next Tech-Care Session and close out the summer series on August 26th with an Offline Social. Click through for tickets and details here.
Stay tuned for fall programming soon!
In solidarity,
-Gunjan