The Social Dilemma
Year: 2020
Director: Jeff Orlowski
Starring: Skyler Gisondo, Tristan Harris, Tim Kendall, Jaron Lanier & Sean Parker
Runtime: 94 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 18/02/22
Director: Jeff Orlowski
Starring: Skyler Gisondo, Tristan Harris, Tim Kendall, Jaron Lanier & Sean Parker
Runtime: 94 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 18/02/22
The digital advancements of the twenty first century have led to a major shift in the way go about our daily lives and interact with other people. Technology has become such an integral part of how everything operates that it is almost impossible to escape computers, smartphones, the internet, or social media. A few decades ago the most valuable companies in the world traded rare materials like fossil fuels, but now the most valuable companies by far are the tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. But what is the human cost of technology, and social media in particular? Has this technology that was created to connect people and inspire growth been turned into something dangerous, and can we help improve the situation?
The Social Dilemma gathers a number of experts from various fields in technology, from former designers at Google, the man that balanced the books at Facebook, to the former CEO of Instagram, and the visionary behind Virtual Reality, as well as many more. These respectable industry figureheads go on to outline how modern internet connected devices and social media are fine tuned to keep you using them, developing addiction like tendencies in users through simple yet highly sophisticated design tricks, and overwhelmingly powerful A.I algorithms.
Usually with documentaries I want to learn something new when I watch them. But with The Social Dilemma I felt as though this wasn’t telling me anything new. Even more peculiar was that littered throughout the documentary is a fictional drama about a teenager named Ben (Skyler Gisondo) who falls into a social media addiction and starts to hold radicalised political opinions because of it.
Obviously these kinds of things do happen, and I understand that director Jeff Orlowski was trying to show just how easy it can be for someone to fall into that kind of trap, but it felt really out of place and at times was given priority over the facts and interviews which I wasn’t keen on.
The Social Dilemma gathers a number of experts from various fields in technology, from former designers at Google, the man that balanced the books at Facebook, to the former CEO of Instagram, and the visionary behind Virtual Reality, as well as many more. These respectable industry figureheads go on to outline how modern internet connected devices and social media are fine tuned to keep you using them, developing addiction like tendencies in users through simple yet highly sophisticated design tricks, and overwhelmingly powerful A.I algorithms.
Usually with documentaries I want to learn something new when I watch them. But with The Social Dilemma I felt as though this wasn’t telling me anything new. Even more peculiar was that littered throughout the documentary is a fictional drama about a teenager named Ben (Skyler Gisondo) who falls into a social media addiction and starts to hold radicalised political opinions because of it.
Obviously these kinds of things do happen, and I understand that director Jeff Orlowski was trying to show just how easy it can be for someone to fall into that kind of trap, but it felt really out of place and at times was given priority over the facts and interviews which I wasn’t keen on.
I had hoped to see solutions put forward by a lot of these industry leaders, but beyond saying don’t let kids use social media and that you should probably delete your social media right now too there are no possible solutions even brought up. Telling people not to use social media isn’t a solution to the problem, and instead companies like Facebook (or Meta as they are now known) need to be held accountable for user safety on their platforms and promoting healthy social media use.
Whilst I say this told me nothing I don’t already know, perhaps to the less tech savvy The Social Dilemma will hold new information, and particularly for generations that didn’t grow up with this technology in their lives from a relatively young age it does help outline exactly what you’re signing up for and how addictive tendencies can develop, how to identify when mental health issues such as depression begin to affect your social media use, and how to identify fake news outlets when the algorithms fail to do so.
I would say that The Social Dilemma is something that people should check out if they aren’t well versed in the intricacies of how social media and digital networking work. You’re not going to be presented with techno babble that you can’t understand, it’s all presented in simple English to communicate exactly what these companies seek to gain from users. But for those who already understand how to effectively and safely navigate the digital minefields of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, then The Social Dilemma probably won’t tell you anything you don’t already know.
Whilst I say this told me nothing I don’t already know, perhaps to the less tech savvy The Social Dilemma will hold new information, and particularly for generations that didn’t grow up with this technology in their lives from a relatively young age it does help outline exactly what you’re signing up for and how addictive tendencies can develop, how to identify when mental health issues such as depression begin to affect your social media use, and how to identify fake news outlets when the algorithms fail to do so.
I would say that The Social Dilemma is something that people should check out if they aren’t well versed in the intricacies of how social media and digital networking work. You’re not going to be presented with techno babble that you can’t understand, it’s all presented in simple English to communicate exactly what these companies seek to gain from users. But for those who already understand how to effectively and safely navigate the digital minefields of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, then The Social Dilemma probably won’t tell you anything you don’t already know.