Most of us may know about the new documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” about the negative effects social networking has on humans, which was released back at the beginning of this year on Netflix. I know we talked about it in class since one of our topics for an Innovation Now posts for MKTG 5604 was based on data privacy. This documentary showed us a better look at how social media uses users’ data to lure them into a deeper hole. As scary as it seems, I will guiltily say I have definitely fallen for social media’s rabbit holes to get me lost in scrolling for hours. This is a real eye-opener, if you feel like you have been glued to your phone a lot more recently, especially on social media, this documentary has a good way of explaining why.
Technology is amazing and continues to be invented and upgraded. Technology and social media, both have pros and cons, just like everything does. Both have changed the business world, and how people live in general. “The Social Dilemma highlights the ways human behaviour and habits have been altered by the very existence of such technology” (Turner). Social media have funtions that are created to encourage further engagement and keep you to stay on them longer (Turner). Our data and information is made into a specific algorigthm that is aimed to keep us engaged longer, such as the infinity scroll on Instagram and Tik Tok. When one goes to refresh the page, there will be a new posting that wasn’t seen before by the user in oder tto get tthem back in to thatt hole of scrolling.
This documentary was made to show people how social media corporations manipulate their users by creating an addiction with algorithms (Belinda). The real question, is there a problem with how they use our data in order to get us to keep thier social media platforms going? We did sign up and “agree” to the fine print. Just like anything else, they are a business. But I truthfully understand that “addiction” to social media, and how it can have you busy for hours without even realizing. It’s come to attention that this documentary has brought awareness to the problem, but not so much how a user can fight the urge (Belinda).
‘The Social Dilemma’ reminded me of this short youtube video from a few years ago, which shows how people stare at their phones aimlessly all day, missing things in life, and if they just looked up its right there in front of them.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY?list=FLM7copS-3wRbqZh_M9YtVLQ&index=2&t=0s]
Look Up by Gary Turk
Resources:
Belinda Barnet Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications, and Diana Bossio Lecturer. “Netflix’s The Social Dilemma Highlights the Problem with Social Media, but What’s the Solution?” The Conversation, 17 Nov. 2020, theconversation.com/netflixs-the-social-dilemma-highlights-the-problem-with-social-media-but-whats-the-solution-147351.
Turner, Laura Jane. “The Social Dilemma: Netflix’s New Social Media Documentary, Explained.” Digital Spy, Digital Spy, 11 Sept. 2020, www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a33978478/social-dilemma-netflix/.
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