Using your phone to disrupt capitalism

1. Inaturalist: A not-for-profit app from a university (no, nothing to do with iApple) that helps you connect to nature—and record what’s there before it becomes extinct. The crowdsourced data from individuals like you and me is used directly in research. I use this most days. Discovering wonders in nature is great for my mental health! Corporations want us divorced from nature so that we keep consuming in the destructive way that is cheapest for them to supply, maximising the all important shareholder profits. Profits for THE RICH. Profits built on exploiting nature and other people.
   
2. Libby: A source of free ebooks and audiobooks from the local library (why pay for books on Amazon etc when your library already has them and you can access them for free?). If your library doesn’t use Libby, they likely use a similar app or apps to offer you free books. If they don’t have the book you want, you can request it.
   
3. Jetpack: Blog about your experience—and read others’ blogs. Get to know people all around the world in a way that’s not superficial. Learn about other places and cultures. Don’t fall for ‘divide and conquer’. Writing and reading is great exercise for your mind.
   
4. Duolingo: Take a few minutes each day to learn a foreign language using the free version. A way better use of time than doomscrolling social media, imbibing feeds curated by huge corporations and the filthy rich. Don’t fall for the myth that AI translation is all we need. Learning a language teaches you about other cultures and keeps your brain healthy. I dabble in Japanese and Portuguese, but there are so many languages on here!
   
5. Signal: An app that is way more secure for chatting than Meta’s WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram chat and other social media–based apps. Ever noticed that you mention something in a private message and then immediately start seeing ads for the very same thing? That’s no accident. Short-circuit capitalism by stepping off its merry-go-round whenever you can. Talk to your friends and family about switching to Signal or a similar app. Being under constant surveillance is no joke. Ever read George Orwell’s 1984?

The image is a screenshot from inaturalist