It’s no longer good enough for our elected representatives to feign technical illiteracy, throw up their arms in defeat, and ask the office twenty-something to fix it….a special case can be made for upping the digital literacy of our elected, because unlike the many, many subjects about which our politicians know little, digital technology increasingly concerns foundational questions of accountability, fairness, and abuse of power. And to answer these questions today increasingly requires some degree of technological know-how.
If the most recent Facebook-data dust-up has shown us anything, it is just that we cannot be legislated by technically inept. Technology is now a fundamental part of society now, and it impacts us on a daily basis. Whether it is Facebook or scooters in San Francisco, you can’t govern or write smart laws, if you don’t know anything about it.
In a similar vein, it is also essential for media to write about this issues in a measured manner — not as click bait fodder, but more as explainers for mom-and-pops and non-tech/normals. Media needs to explain why it all matters and get them to engage in this digitally-enhanced future. It is the anthesis of what modern media is all about.