Hey everyone! Writing to you from San Francisco, where I am with two of my Annex colleagues and Mathias for YTH 2018. We've been thinking a lot in the past year about how we can use technology to increase access and be a tool for health equity, and the YTH (youth+tech+health) conference is a way for us to learn and get inspired. We have had a lot of ideas, but we've been looking for concrete steps and guidance. So, here's what was most interesting, exciting, and thought-provoking from day 1!
The day started with an inspiring talk by George Hofstetter, a young person whose experience in a hackathon as a 13 year old started him off on a path of using tech to address social justice issues. He talked about how important representation is for young people of color, and how valuable experiences of skill building can be. I have pretty much no idea how to code anything or do a hackathon, but I'm interested in thinking more about how we could partner with folks who do to host a hackathon at work that's focused on sexuality and social justice. We know that there are many young people who are interested in engaging in social justice work around sexuality and sexual health issues, and it might be a super cool way for us to collaborate with people who have a different skill set from us and open up a space for young people to learn and experience this type of work. Or show me how to code things... because I'm willing to bet some of them are ahead of me.
I got some good tips about how to protect privacy in online research, which is applicable to what our YPAR project. The group decided they wanted to use an online survey, in order to reach a large, diverse group of people and while we are not asking participants about their sensitive sexual health history, it's important to do what we can to provide participants with privacy in case someone comes up and sees the survey, for example.
Another big thing I've been thinking about today was apps. I think it's easy to think that an app is the best option tech-wise, because we have so many apps and know that young people use them. But, a website can do what an app can or more, without a number of challenges that come with creating an app. According to my in house developer, Mathias, is it easier to make a website than an app. Making an app can be expensive and can require a lot of maintenance. Obviously there are some great apps, but as a nonprofit without developers on staff, you have to think through the best use of resources and what will actually be effective. This may all be very obvious to you, but I guess I've never really thought enough about it!
That's not all that I learned about today, but that's all I've got for now! I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
