Interview with Gayle Karen Young, previous Chief Culture and Talent Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation and advocate for women’s issues, human rights, and the role of technology in social development
By Ocean Pleasant
Ocean Pleasant: I want to start by saying that I think you are incredibly inspiring, both for the work you do and as a powerful
woman in your field. How do you think technology is an asset for Millennials, and how do you think it’s detracting from true personal connection and experience?
Gayle Karen Young: One of the ways that I think technology is an asset for Millennials is it dramatically decreases barriers to very specific kinds of access. When you have the ability to participate in a global dialogue whenever you want to plug in, and to learn about anything that you want because of the plethora of information that’s on the Internet, I think that’s just an incredible game changer.
One of the impacts on the Internet, for instance, on the gay and lesbian space is what they call “creating urban density,” even in rural areas. One of the things that shifts perspectives on gay marriage is whether you know someone who’s openly gay. Because of Facebook, where people identify as openly gay, you’re more likely to know someone, even in a more rural area, whereas that typically only happens in urban areas. So the way it impacts social dynamics and breaks a sense of isolation is fantastic.
And part of the access to those stories is also access to the stories of other young game changers. You get to see other role models, and it widens fundamentally your set of what’s possible. I get really excited about that.
There are a lot of downsides. I think this kind of connection on the phone or on your device or whatever you have can seem like everything. There’s some research out there that it’s kind of rewiring the brain a little bit, that people are used to getting huge swaths of data but they’re not going as deep. I think that’s a temporary thing, because the way that we structurally move is to swing one way and then to try and swing back and compensate.
Overall, though, my general sense is that the benefits outweigh the negatives, so I’m not too worried yet because I think there will be a vanguard of Millennials like you who are aware enough of other mediums of communication that you’ll evangelize this as well.
OP: Jack Andraka credits using Wikipedia for some of the breakthroughs in his work. How do you balance this incredible potential with the barrier of isolation that sometimes occurs from people relying too much on digitial connection?
GKY: I think everything has its own maturation curve and frankly we haven’t matured fully into the digital age yet. It’s like when you first meet someone and you’re going on your awkward first or third date. It hasn’t had the time to fully ripen yet. I think it’s going to take at least another decade to fully flesh out our relationship with technology and see what digital natives really make of it.
One of the side effects right now is it’s a real bitch to date in Silicon Valley. [Laughs.] You know? Men, apps: it’s not such a good combination at the moment. But I think some of that will even out.
OP: I’ve never heard it articulated that way. Like any relationship, it’s going to evolve and become more mature. That’s so brilliant.
GKY: A friend of mine who has an autistic kid said Siri never gets tired of answering her kid’s questions. And the kid is actually learning to be more polite and engaged because Siri’s polite. I’ve never even heard of that. Talk about unintended consequences of technology.
I do think that we need to pay a lot of attention to the unintended consequences because, as I’ve said in my talks, the drone technology that can be used to track the last white rhinos on an African game preserve is the same technology that can be used by human traffickers to track their victims. But when I think about an unintended consequence like Siri being great for autistic children, that’s phenomenal. Turning up the volume on those stories is really important.
OP: What is your definition of an entrepeneur?
GKY: I think the word “entrepreneur” has come to mean something really narrow and sexy and Silicon Valley-ish, when it’s as simple as somebody who is innovative in taking an idea to market and getting a cash-flow-positive return.
OP: I want to better articulate what I said at the beginning. I hope I didn’t offend you by saying that you’re inspiring because of what you do, and also because you’re a woman.
GKY: No, I felt very flattered.
OP: Okay, thank goodness! I feel like we really need to break down the barriers of gender, not just in tech but in everything. I don’t want to have to point out that you’re inspiring because you are a woman; I want to point out that you’re inspiring because of the work you do in the world. People have asked me, "Why don't you ask people if they'd give different advice to men than they would women?" Or is that perpetuating a divide?
GKY: I would give the same advice to men that I would give to young women, but I would give women additional advice. Gender is something we are, but it’s also contextual, and I would give women different advice because they’re going to be facing different challenges. Gender carries with it a very specific set of challenges. You might feel isolated or you might enter a tech company and find the culture stacked against you. Being called “one of the guys” is sometimes fine and sometimes not.
We know that when you have at least 18 percent of women in parliament, a government makes better decisions about its citizenry, including access to healthcare and education. I believe in representation, whether it’s gender or race; you need the participation of the people who will be impacted.
I don’t stand on the gender bandwagon just because of straight-up gender; I stand on the gender bandwagon because I believe in the positive outcomes. I think it allows men to be better men. I get angry on behalf of women who aren’t allowed to get an education in the Middle East and I get really sad about men in those areas because whenever you suppress half the population, men only become caricatures of themselves. And I think the same thing is true when you have heterosexual versus homosexual, etc. You want people to have the capacity to be full human beings.