“The Social Dilemma” Warns of Social Media’s Negative Effect On Ourselves and Society at Large
This Netflix documentary strikingly reflects how social media controls our lives and is shaping the world we live in and will face in the future. It highlights the effects it has on our brains, relationships, and how it’s become a key component to societal obstacles.
Art representing ‘The Social Dilemma’ / Netflix
For someone that spends a lot of time online and on social media, it’s inevitable that it has become a big part of my life. Especially in younger generations, social media consumes our lives and has been present in it since we were young kids. While social media and the internet have bountiful benefits and numerous uses, it also poses a great danger on our mental health and overall mental wellbeing. The 2020 Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma” breaks down the impacts and dark side of social media and the internet by taking audiences into a deep dive of the secrets and tactics of major media companies.
This film takes viewers into the harsh reality behind social media with an extremely unfiltered view. It has former employees from major tech companies sit down in interviews and share their insider takes on their past work and how they’ve seen the internet affect their lives and the lives of others. The documentary also uniquely combines real-life interviews and perspectives with a dramatization with actors of how teenagers and families are also affected by the constant consumption of social media. The film acts as both a warning and educational piece for viewers to learn the negative effects of social media and inform themselves on the threat they pose to society.
One of the main focuses of the film is the algorithms the social media companies use to control what the viewer sees and has access to. The Social Dilemma focuses on the way various platforms utilize extremely powerful algorithms to maintain users engaged. The filmmakers and industry experts from those very companies explain how the algorithms are designed to ensure we spend the most amount of time on the screen and become addicted to the content on it. They curate the posts and content on our feed to resemble what we believe and are interested in, as a way to keep us engaged for long periods of time. While this is a clever marketing strategy, it’s detrimental when we begin to waste hours consuming social media and we let the companies control what we can and cannot see. Similarly, it ensures we have little access to opposite viewpoints which further hinder our ability to agree or peacefully dispute with those with distinct viewpoints. The film focuses a lot on the political aspect of this, and how media companies work to only show audiences content that aligns with their political beliefs. The film suggests that this type of marketing strategy has immense negative consequences, such as undermining healthy discourse and polarizing society on vastly different issues and opinions.
Another warning the film provides is how media platforms utilize our privacy and their strategy behind data exploitation. The documentary highlights the growing issue behind data privacy and how social media platforms continuously collect data from users and use it to present us with personalized advertisements. This type of action makes it hard to keep our lives private and the film details how it is a threat to security and has potential for manipulation. Additionally, another concern about this is how political campaigns and misinformation can spread to viewers, making it harder to distinguish what is fake versus the truth. These dangers are presented in a visually captivating way, and I especially found it interesting how the filmmakers ensured to interview previous employees of these companies and allow them to provide their “behind the scenes” knowledge of the companies’ systems.
One of the most salient points brought up in the film in my opinion was the impact of social media on our mental health. As someone who uses social media daily, I’ve personally noticed the effects it has on me and how I often times feel worse about myself after checking it. The Social Dilemma illustrates how social media platforms cause people to experience constant comparison, a strong need for validation, and create unrealistic beauty and lifestyle standards in our heads. We become dependent on likes, follows, and comments, which can easily contribute to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The film focuses on how these effects can be particularly strong with young audiences and teen viewers. Interestingly, the film also talks about how these platforms cause us to become more insecure while making us more engaged. In a way, the more posts we see that make us feel worse about ourselves, turn into causing us to stay glued on the screen.
One of my favorite parts about this film is how it touches on how social media has negative effects on so many parts of our lives. Not only does it talk about privacy, mental health, and algorithms, at also discusses how the economy plays into the issue. The documentary introduces the idea of “attention economy” which means our attention as a viewers is the most valuable things the company is gaining. In a sense, we are the product being sold. Platforms earn money off of the time we spend on them, and their handy advertising strategy helps keep audiences engaged for longer by tailoring content to viewers’ interests. Interviewees in the film share how companies use these features to make viewers addiction and keep coming back to the platforms so they will make the most profit.
So, what is the solution? It’s clear social media and their companies control big parts of our lives, and it’s getting quite out of hand. With this in mind, the filmmakers propose some solutions in order to control the issue and hopefully decrease the amount of power and influence social media platforms have. The film calls for more government regulation over the tech industry in order to limit the amount of data and information they can collect from viewers. Interviewees say they hope for more laws that will protect use privacy and combat the spread of misinformation. Lastly, their biggest piece of advice: get off social media. I know, it seems impossible, but the film suggests it is extremely beneficial to at least limit the amount of time we spend consuming social media.
The Social Dilemma is a profound film that raises very relevant and current concerns to audiences. I think everyone would benefit from watching this film, especially those who spend bountiful amounts of time on social media. I’ve noticed its effect on my life, so after watching this film I feel more inclined to limit the time I spend on it and find alternative ways to spend my time. Although the film focuses a lot on the negative consequences of social media, it also provides hopeful solutions and ideas to improve the role of technology in our lives.