The Social Dilemma
Premise - A documentary on the social media revolution that has overtaken our world, and how it controls us far more than we control it. Interviews are conducted with ex-employees of major social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and more, who do an "expose" of sorts on the nature of the algorithms that are designed to keep us addicted to our devices.
Review - This is the trendy, thought-provoking material of the week. Who knows if it will spark any lasting change in the ethics of social media privacy or if it's shouting into an empty void. Or actually, no, not an empty void - a void of powerful people who can hear you but don't care.
This documentary is meant to scare you into protecting your personal data, at best. At worst, it is anti-social media altogether, which is the last thing I want to be. Therefore I watched this documentary with a great deal of admiration, but perhaps an even greater deal of criticism.
I want to address first the critiques that I have yet to hear elsewhere - this is a narrative dominated by people in power. They may be the ex-powerful - meaning they used to work for big tech companies and no longer do - but the interviewees are still rich, powerful, white people who were once part of the in-crowd. They tell stories about how social media has us politically divided, exposed to fake news, and how removing one self from social media and "going out into the real world" will help restore the old ways of life. I do not want that.
In reference to the podcast "The Land That Has Never Been Yet", which I recently reviewed, media has three spheres - that which is socially accepted, that which is socially debated, and that which is socially deviant or untold. What outlets like social media does is give a voice to those in the outer spheres who would not have otherwise been accepted into mainstream media. Yes, like this documentary says, that includes conspiracy theories like flat-earth and pizzagate. It also, however, includes marginalized voices such as the trans community, young people, and people of color. This was not once discussed in the documentary. Polarization was condemned in a manner that shut down the concept of marginalization.
Social media has this odd dichotomy of giving power to the voiceless, while profiting the rich, and I wanted to explore that relationship more. It would have made it far more interesting when discussing the idea that all communications that happen through social media, including those of activism and politics, are happening through a third party company.
I was also biased having just finished watching the global conference "A New Generation of Impact For The Global Goals", a conference all about young people using social media to advance social movements. I was irritated by seeing the young actors in the fictional recreations using social media for dumb, mind-numbing activities, which is the stereotype that boomer generations often give to Gen Z. People don't seem to give credit for what social media has given young people. I see it as a wonderful thing, but yes - all of this occurs through a third party, so let's debate that.
As I seem to have taken a pro-social media stance, I will still say I outwardly condemn the ethical wrongdoings of these companies storing data. I condemn the use of algorithms. But what I think I'm condemning here is not social media, but capitalism.
I think many social media users often request the same thing - let me follow who I want to follow, subscribe who I want to subscribe to, and let my news feed come up in chronological order. Don't recommend me things, and don't manipulate my feed. And DON'T STORE MY DATA. I think this would be a good compromise, that still may lead to an echo-chamber, but a less artificial one. If I'm not wrong, many social media outlets started off this way and some of the low-budget ones still are.
So why do the big social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube store data and build algorithms? It's to make money. Social media is not to be used for the advancement of societal interconnectedness, but to increase capital. Data is money, and screen time is money.
It is frustrating too because in many ways, we now do not have much of a choice but to use social media, as it is the most convenient and societally accepted ways of communication. For example, therapists and social workers are now using Facebook Messenger to communicate with clients in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, which has not been endorsed by the any ethics board but has been openly permitted knowing that, in this monopoly, there aren't a wealth of other options. Monopoly is a whole other anti-capitalistic debate I could get into.
Last critique... what was with the police brutality scene towards the
end in the fictional recreation. Implying that riots and police
brutality are caused by politically polarized, angry young people is...
inherently problematic. I know this originally premiered in January before George Floyd, but still.
I've torn this documentary apart but that's because a lot of the positive things have already been said. It's a dystopian, prophetic documentary that's incredible well put together. It mixes both non-fiction interviews and data with fictional recreations, and it's emotionally compelling. It'll have people rethinking how much time they spend on social media, and realize the ways they've been manipulated into increased screen time, as well as how they have consumed unrepresentative content. (83/100)
Quote - "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” As a Harry Potter fan I think about this a lot. Social media is way more impressive than a spell and puts the magic of the Wizarding World to shame.
Also "Do you check your social media before you pee in the morning or while you're peeing? Because there's no other options" okay way to call me out for checking my social media first thing in the morning when I wake up.
What to watch for - The control panel trying to make Ben use social media, Inside Out style! (Also, side note, Ben is played by the actor who played young Shawn in Psych! I recognized him right away).
If you liked this documentary, I'd recommend The Circle!
Directed by Jeff Orlowski
Distributed by Netflix
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