Take control of your personal tech with Shira Ovide’s newsletter

You need to know how to make an online dating profile that doesn’t stink, fix your friggin’ home internet service and keep apps from spying on your kids.

You want to know when technology doesn’t matter at all. You want to touch grass and unplug.

Help Desk is The Washington Post’s home for deeply researched information and advice that puts you in control to shape technology into a force for good in your life. And that is what you’ll find from a new email newsletter, The Tech Friend, from me and the Help Desk team.

[SIGN UP FOR THE NEW TECH FRIEND NEWSLETTER HERE]

Maybe you smiled or groaned at that name. Yes, great! Know that I am your tech friend at The Post. So is my buddy and Help Desk columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler. Twice a week, I promise that you’ll leave your inbox with at least one tangible thing you can do to take command of technology to nudge your life in a more positive direction. I am also your conscience to prod technology companies and bosses to do better for you.

I have written about technology for more than a decade, but I don’t have all the answers. Think of me as a wise, slightly grumpy friend who sorts through the babble to help you feel more confident about your technology choices, wags her finger at tech that is failing you and helps you see the context that is bigger than you. Your inbox is a place for both solutions and for wrestling with the messiness of digital life.

You’ll also hear regularly from Geoff and my other colleagues. And we want The Tech Friend to be a conversation. You are the expert of your life. We will learn from one another.

I care about technology because it can be a tool to bring out the best (or worst) in you. And the outcome won’t be dictated by powerful people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. It’s up to you and billions of other people to steer technology to serve you and your loved ones, your work, your schools, your money, your entertainment, your health, your relationships, your creativity, your neighborhood, your country and your planet.

The Tech Friend is here to help put you in charge. I’m grateful for the invitation to your inbox and your life. This is a sacred space for the two of us next to your friend’s birthday party planning and that coupon for socks.

Before you sign up for The Tech Friend newsletter right here, I’m going to leave you with a secret. Come closer to your screen.

I don’t believe in technology. I believe in you. I want technology to do better because then you and I can be better.

Does that sound corny? Good. Embrace the corny optimist inside you. Let’s hold hands and make our lives and world better together. You got this.

[SIGN UP FOR THE NEW TECH FRIEND NEWSLETTER HERE]