Bethany Edwards

Digital sobriety is an emerging concept, one gaining increasing traction. It aims to modify the way we engage with digital, seeking to reduce environmental impact through the adoption of more thoughtful, responsible, and sustainable tech. Digital sobriety allows for broad application, providing individuals with myriad methods to limit the harm caused by their use of technology. In this article, we’ll explore the ease of overconsumption, the fallacy of solutionism, and the rise of digital sobriety.

In early August, it was reported that more than 1,000 charities had likely been implicated in a third-party data breach resulting from a cyber security incident. This news followed a separate cyber security incident in July, also involving third-party software, which led to over 14,000 charities being locked out of their banking accounts. The scale of these incidents drew significant attention, but they are far from isolated.

A social media algorithm decides which content is seen by which people. It’s a collection of rules, ranking signals, and calculations. Every social media platform your charity uses will have its own algorithm, which tracks how users behave, including what they watch, engage with, and share. That’s why if you search online to buy a desk fan, you’ll start seeing adverts for them cropping up.