Missing Voices

I also found that among these categories many types of voices are missing. Some of the most novel critiques about technology and Silicon Valley are coming from women and underrepresented minorities, but these people are seldom recognized as critics.

Despite proliferating venues for diverse critical work and cultural commentary, including open platforms like Twitter, sociologist Tressie McMillan argues that those conditions don’t necessarily result in a more diverse set of voices contributing to the public discourse. She writes, “Social media is supposed to democratize the access points into the pundit class. So far, social media platforms seem to submerge the machinery more than it reveals ways to disrupt it.”124

Still, advocates for acknowledging diverse contributions to the tech industry are vocally and visibly creating change. One example is Anil Dash’s Makerbase,125 which aims to give due credit to all contributors, small and large. Anil explicitly states his identity as “an entrepreneur, activist and writer recognized as one of the most prominent voices advocating for a more humane, inclusive and ethical technology industry.”126 In another example, the photographer Helena Price’s Techies Project127 put a face to the story about the challenges diverse and underrepresented populations face within the technology industry itself.

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