8 Nonprofits Determined to Save the World from Itself, Armed with Wi-Fi, Good Vibes, and Kumbaya
In a world where your grandmother can accidentally summon a nuclear launch by poking her iPad, and social media giants are the modern day child predators, a merry band of nonprofit tech crusaders is valiantly attempting to save us from our own digital dysfunction. Dubbed “Tech Nonprofits: The Movie,” this ragtag mix of do-gooders is armed with little more than a strong Wi-Fi connection and some well-intentioned mission statements.
Take Code.org, for example. Their noble mission? Teaching every five-year-old how to code, because why not prepare today’s toddlers for their future lives as Silicon Valley robot overlords? “We believe that if kindergartners can master spelling, they can also learn JavaScript,” said a fictional representative of Code.org, dressed in a superhero cape made entirely of recycled ones and zeros.
Meanwhile, the Center for Democracy and Technology is fighting the battle to ensure that even the most technologically clueless politician can legislate about the Internet with the confidence of a seasoned GIF creator. Their motto: “If we can convince one senator to stop displaying his emails on PowerPoint, we’ve done our jobs.”
Then there’s Child’s Play, an organization dedicated to using gaming to usher children into the soothing arms of technology addiction. “We want kids to know that their avatars can be their best friends,” said a spokesperson who ironically admitted to spending more time in Minecraft than in the actual craft of living a balanced life.
Not to be outdone, DataKind has taken it upon themselves to harness the power of data to solve the world’s most pressing issues, like why your Netflix recommendations make you question your life choices. Their latest research project? Determining whether cat videos can cure seasonal depression in lab rats.
Yet, amidst skepticism, these nonprofits march bravely on. Kobo is on a quest to bring e-books to those least expecting them: the die-hard paperback enthusiasts who view screens as a betrayal of human touch. According to Kobo, soon everyone will be staring at yet another screen during family dinners, creating yet more jobs for digital detox therapists.
Lastly, TechSoup remains a beacon of hope, offering discounted software to nonprofits who desire, above all else, to avoid the indignity of using the free version of Slack where messages vanish like snows in Hell. The digital horizon, they assure us, is filled with promised productivity and zero water cooler gossip.
In a world fueled by questionable motives and where our greatest threat could be accidentally FaceTiming our boss in the middle of a 3 a.m. karaoke session, these tech nonprofits dare to promise salvation. Because if they don’t, who will remind us all that the world can be a caring, communal place where code is poetry, data is the protagonist, and every app is downloaded for the greater good?
