Reflecting on ‘The Social Dilemma’ Four Years Later
Summary of The Social Dilemma
In 2020, Netflix released The Social Dilemma, a documentary directed by Jeff Orlowski. Through the stories of former social media employees, Orlowski takes a deep dive into the danger of social media addiction, how platforms impact their user’s views of their platform, and the algorithm behind keeping engagement high and users addicted.
In a review by New York Times writer Devika Girish, she writes, “We can salvage the good of social media without the bad.” (Girish, 2020), a sentiment shared by most interviewees, too. With the correct checks and balances, social media can be reinvented into something beautiful and ethical, its original intention. The question remains: is this saving possible? Or are we too consumed by likes and shares to change our crumbling online society?
One of the most resonating moments of the documentary was hearing about app developers’ addictions while working for their respective sites. Every person interviewed for The Social Dilemma admits to some part of the Internet they feel especially connected to.
Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, is addicted to checking his email (The Social Dilemma, 2020).
Due to his obsession with Reddit, Aza Raskin, a former Firefox and Mozilla Labs employee, had to develop a code to stay off the site (The Social Dilemma, 2020).
Former Pinterest executive Tim Kendall would often go home from the office and scroll Pinterest, the platform on which he dedicated his day job to building up for success (The Social Dilemma, 2020).
How is the rest of society meant to control their temptations on social media when developers and engineers keep their eyes glued to their screens? No matter who you are, your education, or the life outside of the Internet you live, everyone is susceptible to falling into the deafening rabbit hole of social media.
According to Harris, this addition and the algorithm that promotes it “shouldn’t just be something that only the tech industry knows. It should be something everybody knows” (The Social Dilemma, 2020). However, the secrecy and self-governance of social media platforms up to this point in human history have made it exceptionally difficult for anyone to stop the ever-growing controversy of social media addiction.
Fake News
As 2024 is a presidential election year, spreading “fake news” on social media has again reached its peak. Artificial intelligence has only developed since the last election cycle, causing panic among technologists, politicians, and the American public to worry about what kind of lies could come in the next few months. Even worse, will any of this disinformation lead to violence and outcries from either side of the aisle?
Misinformation is more dramatic and usually more interesting than the truth, which is why so many people hold onto it with such strength. According to Harris, lies travel six times faster on Twitter than the truth (The Social Dilemma, 2020), filling the platform with every type of lie, deception, and conspiracy theory possible. These stories create even more division between political affiliations in the United States because while some people believe these stories as fact, the other side sees them strictly as propaganda. The push and pull regarding political disinformation on social media will only continue to grow and develop more tension unless something is done to lessen the disparity between the two sides.
What Can Be Done?
While The Social Dilemma depicts the potentially scary future that the continual use of social media could lead to, there is hope for change.
Harris and Raskin co-founded the Center for Humane Technology, a non-profit that promotes aligning “technology and humanity’s best interests” (Center for Humane Technology, 2022). As two developers, much of their content is geared towards fellow technologists and how the two sides can work together to promote healthy technology usage and creation. The Center for Humane Technology clarifies that the answer is not removing all social media but instead developing a strategy that keeps people mentally and physically safe while using the platforms. Their website offers a free course that teaches “technology that treats attention and intention as sacred, protects well-being, and builds our capacity to address urgent challenges” (The Center for Humane Technology, 2022).
The mission of The Center for Humane Technology focuses on the hopes for a future of both advancing technology and thriving society. Understanding how these two can coexist, but more importantly, how they cannot in the current world without drastic changes, is key to moving forward.
This is the best way to inspire change in modern society. Many aspects of social media seem negative: Platforms lower self-worth for the younger generation, they promote violence through fake news, and the devices themselves are destroying the environment. Social media users of all generations are tired of hearing the bad, so instead, they need to be shown the possible good that can be born from governmental or personal growth.
Privacy and Social Media
Staying private on social media is a topic that I have struggled with in recent years. Growing up surrounded by apps, I was always taught, “Don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t want Grandma to see,” so naturally, I have been more conservative with images and texts that I send out from my profiles.
The Social Dilemma has only confirmed my thoughts regarding privacy on social platforms, and I do not plan on changing my approach moving forward. I will never share my location on any social apps, keep my accounts private, and block people who threaten my peace or those around me. It makes me feel more confident and in control of my social media usage knowing I have already taken these steps to protect myself online.
Thoughts
I have seen The Social Dilemma twice, the first just a few months after its release on Netflix, eliciting different thoughts and opinions from my viewing. Due to the current political climate, this aspect of the documentary hit much harder and felt much more accurate than it did the first time.
The “fake news” and misinformation spirals that seemingly well-functioning individuals can be subject to can be very scary. These conspiracies come from both sides of the political spectrum. An average scroll on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok can lead to nonsensical conversations about politics, international relations, or even more mundane topics.
Unfortunately, many people in modern American society do not understand basic media literacy, and these interactions lead to dangerous situations for people across the country.
This is my most considerable distortion when leaving social media and entering reality. In my circle of friends, on and offline, we have particular views and opinions that are repeated by one another, sometimes resulting in concerning echo chambers. We know each other’s opinions on everything from politics to favorite restaurants, meaning we are not surprised to hear what each other says. Stepping outside that bubble and facing difficult conversations with people who may disagree with me is often challenging. To most people, they have the correct opinion because everyone around them agrees with it. However, the other person in the disagreement feels the same way, further dividing two sides of the political spectrum and leading to more confrontation in society. This struggle intensifies when the thousands of opinions shared on social media are considered.
Conclusion
Social media can be a scary, lawless place. As a society, we must learn to adapt and change our behaviors regarding platforms before it is too hard to turn back. Hearing the stories of former Google, Pinterest, and Facebook employees has opened my eyes to the importance of knowing social media as it truly is and not for what it wants its users to see.
Media literacy is necessary in 2024, considering the misinformation and artificial intelligence shared daily to gain attention rather than educate and inform. Without the knowledge and education to survive the nonsense and embrace the positive, social media has little chance of thriving in modern society. To quote Tristan Harris, “How do you wake up from the Matrix when you don’t know you’re in the Matrix?” (The Social Dilemma 2020).
References
For technologists. Center for Humane Technology. (n.d.). https://www.humanetech.com/technologists
Girish, D. (2020, September 9). “the social dilemma” review: Unplug and run. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/movies/the-social-dilemma-review.html?register=email&auth=register-email
The Social Dilemma. (2020). Netflix. Retrieved July 16, 2024, from www.netflix.com.
Together we can align technology with humanity’s best interests. Center for Humane Technology. (n.d.). https://www.humanetech.com/
