Film - The Social Dilemma

I’ve had a phone since 1993 and I wouldn’t be without it. In the last decade or so, it’s served as my mini-computer as it’s rare to use it to make a call or even text. It’s now more valuable than just making me feel safe when I’m out alone/at night. According to this documentary, 20 somethings have no restraint at all and the teenagers coming up behind them have even less. I’ve certainly seen much evidence of this and I may have been the same if I was currently their age, I really hope not.

I hope my mindset was the same as it is now, in that I don’t want unnecessary information cluttering my mind. (That’s why I couldn’t be arsed with history then, love it now). Other people must be able to turn off their notifications? Am I the only one that does that? Mine is a black screen and I only see notifications when I choose to which doesn’t stop me from looking at my phone 50 times a day, or much less when I’m not working. The main reason is I find communications work much faster on the mobile than the laptop. The quicker I can deal with it and put the phone back down the better.

The Social Dilemma, a documentary that interviews former senior managers working in the social media industry is more than just about checking your phone too often. It deals with social media algorithms, influencers and of course peer pressure

There is a bizarre drama element to this where we follow the exploits of a family. Mum and dad seemed to be fine with their young teen breaking open the timed plastic box in which phones were locked away as an experiment for one single mealtime, with no discussion or warning. So I lost interest in them pretty soon after they were introduced. The teen’s self esteems dips ever lower as soon as she checks an update and her parents are none the wiser. Then the mum goes on to have a bet with her older teen in which she asks him to leave his phone alone for a week and then she promptly just leaves it in the kitchen. Even I couldn’t resist picking my up own phone if it was just sitting there. This does demonstrate something that we all know, it’s going to take a lot more than just putting your phone down. 

The three AI controllers are quite a fun demonstration of how data mining and algorithms work. However, time will tell if those who created the mess - the techbros - and have left their tech jobs after raking in their millions have truly turned from the dark side and become educators. The tech employees on The Social Dilemma are pretty much all white men and given their job titles for ones so young, of certain privilege and I’m unsure how much we should be believing them for the second time. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now and be ever hopeful that social media is still the good force I originally thought it was.

6/10
Netflix