The Social Dilemma: We Must Do Better
“The Social Dilemma” is a documentary-style film about the increasing dangers of social media. The film goes beyond the basics and really dives deep into how social media is addictive, manipulative, and jeopardizes our mental health. Throughout the film, we follow the story of a teenager named Ben, who is seriously affected by social media’s manipulation and addiction. This story plays side by side with various interviews from technology experts and former employees of major tech companies.
It’s difficult to admit, but there were a number of moments in the film that were extremely relatable, especially throughout Ben’s story. I was lucky enough to have grown up without a smartphone and barely any social media accounts. In fact, I did not get my first smartphone until I was 23 years old. I never wanted one for this exact reason, but it finally became impossible for me not to have one. It didn’t take long before I found myself becoming addicted and more recently, manipulated. In the film, Ben has this moment at the family dinner table where he discusses that he understands social media can be addicting, but also claims that it doesn’t affect him. This is me, without a doubt. I understand how social media and technology in general can be addicting, but I’m never ready to acknowledge that I have a problem myself.
One of the interviews discusses positive intermittent reinforcement, or the possibility of receiving a reward, but at intermittent intervals. They compare using social media to gambling in this sense, because there is no way to tell when or if you’re even going to receive a reward, but the possibility is what keeps you going. This is certainly an experience that resonates with me as I often find myself checking my phone frequently for notifications and refreshing my feed, hoping for something new and exciting to pop up. One of the main interviewees. Tristan Harris, mentions that in this way, social media has us programmed on a much deeper level than we even realize. He’s right, and it’s scary.
There was a portion of the film that discussed “snapchat dysmorphia”, which is basically the negative impact social media has on kids/teens and how it drives them towards plastic surgery. To me, this is an issue that I’ve certainly known about, but did not understand the extent of until watching this film. Kids and teenagers unfortunately have always had to deal with heavy issues such as bullying, body dysmorphia, and depression. However, the statistics mentioned in the film serve as an eye-opener that it’s not the same as it was back when I was in middle school. There were certainly bullies at my school and people who were made fun of for their looks or other physical characteristics, but social media can completely distort our vision of ourselves in a much different way. The film shows that self-harm and suicide rates have increased tremendously in kids/teenagers and can be directly linked to social media. This should be scaring people more than it is.
Personally, I haven’t really experienced social media distorting my vision of myself. This is probably because I didn’t have social media until I was much older, so certain aspects of my life, like my confidence and how I see myself, was already well established. After watching this film however, I can absolutely see how I’ve personally experienced distortion of reality. Learning about how specific your algorithm can get and how much it actually knows about you, was terrifying.
The film does a great job of displaying how our division in politics over the years has grown significantly and can be correlated directly with social media and its algorithms. To me, TikTok is a great example of how algorithms can be used to tear people apart. The algorithm on TikTok is so specific, that hardly anyone has the exact same videos appearing on their ‘for you’ page. For example, as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, my ‘for you’ page is filled with gay content and gay creators. There are TikTok jokes and trends that I understand, but someone else would not, which leads to that distorted reality. On one hand, it’s nice to feel part of a community and have a ‘safe space’ online to be out freely, but the reality is my TikTok world and the real world are two different places. Add politics and social issues to these algorithms and it completely makes sense how society has been dividing further and further apart these past few years.
The last portion of the film discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) is so sophisticated, that human will power will never be expected to compete with it. While this certainly feels true, there are some steps we can, and should, take to develop a more healthy relationship with technology. As discussed in the film, limiting children’s social media intake and technology use is an important step for parents and guardians. Avoiding the addiction as long as possible, especially at an early, impressionable age can make a huge difference.
I also think it’s important to not feed into the algorithm that you’re given or any conspiracy theories they might throw your way. Liking content that doesn’t necessarily align with your beliefs can leave you more open minded and prevent AI from pinning you to a specific side. I think researching, fact-checking, and avoiding clickbait are crucial and will eventually lead to a more healthy relationship with technology.
Sources:
“The Social Dilemma” — https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
