While thinking of ways I can enrich my local community, I figured I should host cookouts/potlucks as a venue to share some useful stuff with the world. I want to cover things like degoogling, basic computer skills, etc. as that’s where my skill set is primarily, but I plan to host guest “host’s” to cover a wider breadth of knowledge.
If you were one of my neighbors, what would you like to see covered or cover yourself?
I’ve warned OP now, but this is the kind of thing that will make them seem like they’re condescending as hell. Most people don’t care about computers, and might sit through a basic security lesson if work forces them to. You’re now implying they’re stupid and you’re so great they should spend time just listening to you, and then the thing you’re selling isn’t even something they want or even respect.
I don’t think that’s true… People like learning, but you have to make it fun. It’s not condescending at all to give a talk on something you know about, you just have to put in the effort to make it interesting for your audience. A lot of that is prep, and the rest is reading the room
Scams are easy to make people care about, because everyone gets a billion spam calls a day now. There’s a fear there, and sharing a few tips to look for is the kind of wives tale factoids that sticks with people
Lots of people are curious about how computers work, but in an idle sort of way. Kind of like space, they like hearing “there’s a planet here that rains diamonds”, but there’s a very limited amount of interest they have in how we discovered it
Security… Well you get to sprinkle in one or two tips before they lose interest
Privacy… Tell them the NSA looks at their dick picks, and we have proof of them sharing them around. That’s about the only thing people seem to remotely care about
That’s so not my experience. People kind of like a fun fact, and people who actually like learning extensively exist, but most have very different priorities from that. One of the most common ones is ego, which OP might be threatening, and another one is identity, which might be a problem too depending on what OP’s neighbors are like.
Fear can work, but it takes a knack for it.
I’m generally likable, but I don’t have much charisma -so people listen to me to a certain extent because of that. Past a point, their eyes glaze over
I think there’s a reason you have such a different experience. I’ve found you quite negative in our very short interaction.
I just think you come across as patronizing in general TBH. I mean this genuinely, you lack the puppy dog energy of OP, and you shouldn’t expect to get the same results
Yeah, nobody says that about me IRL, that’s a bit of a (hurtful) leap from what has been a very short interaction. People find me likeable too, if odd, and I get along pretty well with everyone. Part of that is that I’ve learned to listen, rather than lecture.
I’m pointing out several downer facts, because OP is being a puppy dog, and it reminds me of shit did when I was younger that I cringe at now. I would have wanted someone to warn me, too.
Technical communication is a skill, not one I’m great at, but one I have to do often. There’s a methodology to it. You have to make them care, and then you have a limited amount of interest in the topic that you can’t use up. You have to recognize they don’t care about computers, only convenience and simple tricks that make them more confident in using them. And yes, you definitely have to listen and adapt to what they’re interested in
But yeah, I don’t know you at all. I don’t really doubt your intentions either, you’re probably very nice. It did feel patronizing to have what I think are some pretty well thought out suggestions (grounded in my own experience) dismissed out of hand by a stranger though
If you came to share your experiences and give advice, I’d have responded very differently
Ah, sorry it came off that way. They were good suggestions, but I do question if any of it would matter in this context.
If OP were to work NSA dick picks into a related casual conversation, that may very well make some progress. And maybe someone would ask for alternatives, which could go somewhere closer to what they were originally talking about.
Thanks I appreciate that. I do know that approach works because I’ve seen it tested, and done it myself
It’s definitely a challenge… They just can’t understand why privacy matters. But you can squeak in ideas on the fringes. They will never understand why it matters systematically
Just planting ideas, like “say the word and I’ll remove all your ads” or “don’t buy a pre built desktop, use pcpartpicke and you’ll save hundreds of dollars” gives you authority. It’s a limited budget, but you can translate it into "avoid this to stay safe*
It’s all like that… It extends even into leaders of thee letter agencies, who I didn’t realize I was presenting to at the time