Initially released in January 2020 but later released on Netflix in September 2020, The Social Dilemma is about tech experts sounding the alarm on the dangerous human impact of social networking. It goes into depth on how social media is designed to be addictive, manipulative and spread conspiracy theories and misinformation. Over 38 million families watched this movie in the first 28 days of its release. The documentary starts with ominous and eerie instrumental music while a quote flashes on the screen:
Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.
Sophocles
One of the interviewees, Tim Kendall, said that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that these tools have created some wonderful things in the world — reunited family members, found organ donors and so many more meaningful systemic changes happening that were positive — but we were naive about the flip side of the coin.
What really is our social dilemma?
It’s hard to point to one simple, succinct way of explaining the problem because we went from an age of information to misinformation. From snapchat dysmorphia to getting separated from family core values to cyberattacks escalating to physical attacks.
We have to ask ourselves if this is normal or we’ve all fallen under some kind of a spell.
There’s a classic saying, “If you’re not paying for the product for the product, you are the product.” We don’t pay for the products that we use, advertisers do. Therefore, advertisers are customers and we’re the thing being sold. Jaron Lanier says, “It’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behaviour and perception that is the product.” Different apps may have different niches but all of them have the same business model of keeping the person engaged on the screen. You may think that Google is just a search engine, Instagram is just for posting, Twitter is just for spreading your opinions, and so on.
This is a new kind of marketplace now. It’s a marketplace that never existed before. And it’s a marketplace that trades exclusively in human futures. These markets have produced the trillions of dollars that have made internet companies the richest companies in the history of humanity. Everything you’re doing online is being watched and tracked. Every single activity you have online is closely monitored, even how long you look at an image for. User actions on online platforms are tracked by the companies, which then mine the human-generated capital to increase engagement, growth, and advertising revenue.
Is there a way out of this?
Interviewee Tristan Harris claims that social media is like magic. He says that magicians were like the first neuroscientists and psychologists who understood how the minds of people worked and in real time are testing out lots and lots of stuff on people. We as human beings don’t know how our mind is vulnerable to illusions, that’s a separate discipline all together and applies to all human beings. This is exactly how “persuasive technology” works: using the psychology of what persuades people and building that into technology. Persuasive technology is intentionally applied to the extreme to modify someone’s behaviour. Every time that you pull down and refresh, there will be a new thing on top. This is called positive intermittent reinforcement.
Social Media is a drug. We have a basic biological imperative to connect with other people. Just like Edward Tufte said, “There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software.” The need for social approval has always been rooted in us but we are not meant for a 1000 people to give us their opinion on ourselves. Even if there are 999 positives, that 1 negative will make us question ourselves and we’ll be immensely saddened. A whole generation, the Gen Z, is more anxious, more fragile and more depressed. They’re much less comfortable taking risks. This is a real change in a generation.
TW// Self Harm and Suicide
Since 2009, the self harm rate has gone up by 62% in girls from 15-19 years old and 189% more in girls from 10-14 years old, almost triple. Even more horrifying is that we are seeing the same pattern with suicide. The suicide rate has gone up by a 70% in girls from 15-19 years old and a 151% more in girls from 10-14 years old. While these are statistics from the United States, other countries are seeing similar patterns.
When we’re anxious or sad, there’s always a digital pacifier in front of us that is atrophying our own ability to deal with that. A baby without a pacifier cries, thus making us anxious and depressed with or without social media and our smartphones. This is a totally new species of power and influence. Technology acknowledges and overwhelms human weaknesses. This is overpowering human nature and this is a checkmate on humanity. We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented. Over time there’s a false sense that everyone agrees with you because everyone in your feed or timeline thinks the same as you. We don’t realise that the other set of people aren’t seeing the same set of information making us believe that they’re stupid.
Nearing the end of the show, they talk about why there is a need for this movie/documentary at the time being, giving us examples of people spreading fake news and rumours about the Coronavirus pandemic creating panic among the people that can be influenced. People have no idea what is true but now it’s a matter of life and death. What we saw with COVID-19 is just an extreme version of what’s happening across our information ecosystem. They also highlighted how social media is used politically and to incite hate. They are made to believe that the Government is fooling them and they shouldn’t trust anyone and hate on the other side. One of the examples they gave was about the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Renée Diresta called this a global assault on democracy.
If technology creates mass chaos, outrage, instability, lack of trust in each other, loneliness, alienation, more polarisation, more election hacking, more populism, more distraction, and inability to focus on the relations, that’s society. But now society is incapable of healing itself and is devolving into a kind of chaos.
Tristan Harris
Most of the documentary does sound like they’re just talking negatively about social media like it’s all doom and gloom but on further thought one realises it’s just their realism. Social media helped us so much that the flip side of the coin is so harmful to the human mind. Social media is confusing because it’s simultaneous utopia and dystopia.
Whether it is to be utopia or oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment.
Buckminster Fuller
For more such articles that challenge our daily routines, visit Her Campus at MUJ. And find your healing, chronically online bestie at Niamat Dhillon at HCMUJ.
If you or someone you know is considering self-harm or experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. You can also reach out to the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386, or to your local suicide crisis center.