A must-see, right? On September 9th 2020, The Social Dilemma was released on Netflix. This investigative documentary takes a deep dive into the dangerous impact of social networking on society. Multiple tech experts and whistleblowers of companies like Facebook, Instagram and Google are interviewed and asked to provide their take on the current state of social networks. These “tech gurus”, most of which are now trying to make the same industry they helped build less ethically concerning, warn us about the impact social media has on our lives.
Although most of us can acknowledge that we are on social media more than we probably should, we would not call it an addiction and certainly do not know the implications this has on our privacy and the ways our personal data is being used. The social media giants (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) only have three goals: increase your screen time, increase your engagement rate, and increase the amount of ads you see. These goals all increase the total revenue of these companies, leaving the question of what the product is they are selling. A quote that struck me was: “If you are not paying for the product, you are the product”. To what extent are these companies using us and our data to increase their revenue? Are they selling us, our attention, to other companies? The more addictive we become, the more money they earn from ad revenue. But how do they make us so addicted that we keep scrolling?
Because of the continuous exponential growth in computing power, and therefore, the extreme amounts of data points that can be collected and stored, the AI systems have become shockingly accurate in predicting what will keep us on the app or page. We all sometimes feel as if we are being eavesdropped by our phones right? It is actually the AI systems that have gotten so well at predicting our thoughts. The scary part, however, is when these platforms are being used to change our thoughts. For example, the targeted political campaigns that have potentially influenced the 2016 US presidential election, or bombarding people with conspiracy theories and calls for riots. Additionally, the world has seen a significant increase in self-harm and mental illness among teens, that have spiked since the rise of social media in 2011. Are we too late or is it still possible to turn this around? Fortunately, most of the tech experts are somewhat optimistic. With the right laws in place, such as taxing data collection or privacy protection laws, they believe we will be able to make social media less harmful.
Although I agree with the tech experts on most points and the harmful impact social media potentially has on humanity, there are some parts in the documentary that I think have been hyperbolically emphasized. First, it is true that the number of mental health and self-harm cases have increased. While the documentary states this is a result of the increase in social media usage, they do not acknowledge other factors such as a rise in economic insecurity. Moreover, increased polarization, racism, and riots are illustrated as symptoms for the so-called ‘social media-era’, while no historical context is taken into consideration. Therefore, I feel like at some points the impact of social media is exaggerated to create the dramatic effect documentaries try to achieve to get their intended point across.
In conclusion, I highly recommend watching The Social Dilemma if you are interested in knowing how we are being influenced by social media. It successfully alarms us about extensive data mining and the way we are being manipulated. Additionally, I would like to hear your ideas on how we can ensure ethically correct social media platforms and what is needed to achieve this. Or do you think, after watching, that we are too late and the only way out is by deleting all our social media accounts?
References
Netflix. The Social Dilemma (2020). Retrieved from: https://www.netflix.com/search?q=the%20social%20dilemma&jbv=81254224
Interesting post about The Social Dilemma, and this documentary is highly recommended! I agree with you about the lack of acknowledgements about other factors in society like the rise in economic insecurity. Therefore, the increase in self-harm might not be completely caused by social media.
However, I do believe social media has a big effect on the riots and opposing judgments on for example conspiracy theories. They point out examples about the flat earth theory. People that are interested in the arguments in favour of the flat earth theory, often get sucked into those arguments. After reading about this, they will be presented with more and more articles and video’s proving the earth is flat. One of the main points of the documentary is that definitions and arguments of the opposition will not be showed. This causes opposing groups to be provided with unequal information, making it almost impossible to agree with each other. Could AI not change this conflict? Could AI not show opposing opinions, instead of focusing on confirmation? Could video’s in favour of flat earth not be continued by videos opposing to flat earth?
The ethical concern is truly an issue as social platforms openly collect your data and even “force” you to agree those terms and conditions before checking out certain materials. Nevertheless, deleting the account sounds quite impractical for me. Nowadays the web of algorithm is literally everywhere that even if you stop by a local flower shop for five minutes,waiting for the rain to stop, nearly every application in your phone will start recommending you which flower to buy. To escape, the only way seems to be completely disconnected from the Internet, which is impossible in today’s world. As such, I think the best method to avoid being “sold” by tech companies goes back to the point of being a smart user. Don’t trust the adds easily, think twice before buying the sensational stories, and maintain some offline interactions. Sounds a bit idealistic, however, the more transparent the Internet world is, the easier for us access information of different opinions to clarify whether we’re being confused.
Hi Cas! Nice article. I think it’s good that documentaries like The Social Dilemma help raise awareness of what social media is actually doing. The three goals of media platforms you mentioned (increasing your screen time, increasing your engagement rate, and increasing the amount of ads you see) can be countered by being aware of this and moderate your consumption. Personally I was able to cut down my screen time, after I learned that the news feed feature is specifically designed to keep you hooked. This is done through activating our innate desire to fulfill our curiosity when we only see something partially. I believe parents also play a crucial role in educating their children in how to use social media in moderation.
Very interesting documentary and blog post indeed! You gave a nice summary of the documentary. However, there is one thing I want to point out. While watching the documentary, I also saw what they did by showing the increase in social media usage and the increase in mental health and self-harm cases. However, according to me they never actually said that social media is the cause. They said they were both increased in the same time. I know that is tricky, but it is good to be aware of when seeing such graphs. Other than that, great post!