The Social Dilemma

 

Anyone who uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social networking sites knows that it can be addictive and frightening. Conscientious defectors from these companies show that the perniciousness of social networking platforms is a feature, not a bug, in Jeff Orlowski's documentary "The Social Dilemma." They believe that these businesses are programmed with Machiavellian precision to manipulate human behavior for profit: Consumers are kept constantly engaged by infinite scrolling and push notifications; tailored recommendations use data not just to anticipate but also to influence our actions, making users easy prey for advertisers and propagandists.

 

Thanks in large part to Netflix's new documentary "The Social Dilemma," people are starting to realize the dangers of modern social networking platforms. Former employees of today's main social media networks are interviewed in the film. Many of those were instrumental in the early stages of these companies' development.

 

They raise awareness about the myriad ways that social media manipulates and governs us in the documentary.

 

The following are top three takeaways:

 

1- Our Attention is the Product

According to "The Social Dilemma," many social media corporations succeed by collecting as much of our attention as possible and then selling it to the highest bidder. If you don't pay for the goods, you are the product, as the adage goes.

Have you ever picked up your phone with a certain purpose in mind, only to find an hour later that you'd spent the entire time reading around various social networking sites, entirely forgetting why you picked up your phone in the first place? That's exactly what he's referring to.

 

2. Addiction is Built into the Design of Social Networking Sites

Many social networks, according to "The Social Dilemma," take advantage of people's weaknesses by developing with "positive intermittent reinforcement" in mind.

 

Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist and one of the film's experts, likens it to a Vegas slot machine. It's as if we're pulling the lever of a slot machine, expecting to hit the jackpot, when we check our phones for notifications.

 

3. Social Media Platforms are Not a Tool

We see our social media platforms as a way to stay in touch with friends and family. That, however, is not the case, according to Tristan Harris. A tool, he claims, is anything that sits calmly waiting to be used.

 

Consider a hammer in your toolbox. It doesn't tap on the lid of the toolbox every couple of hours begging to be used, luring us into using it when we haven't used it in a while. It sits and waits. It's about being patient. It's merely a tool.

It's not a tool, despite what social media would have us believe. It annoys us by sending us notifications and emails on a regular basis. It entices and manipulates us.

"It has its own aims and its own way of attaining them by exploiting your psychology against you," Harris writes in "The Social Dilemma.”

 

So, social media has several serious faults in its current state. What can we do to safeguard ourselves against this deception? What can we do to make it better?

 

To begin, you can help safeguard yourself and your family by practicing good social media habits. What exactly do we mean when we say that? Limit your screen time, for example. Disable notifications. Don't get lured into an endless scroll on social media unless you have a specific purpose in mind. Take a vacation from social media if it makes you feel worried or depressed. Second, demand that social media be regulated. There are a few recent data privacy regulations in place right now. It's a start, though. But, according to cybersecurity expert Kristina Podnar, we need to go much further.