Social Dilemma

Social Dilemma is a Netflix Documentary that was presented by a couple of Tech experts who came out with the disadvantages of what the Social media platform does to us as a people, and how the Big Tech Industries impose danger to us through this social media.

It was aired on January 2020 on Netflix to expose the harm done to people by social media and how it affects us as human beings.

Before we go deeply into what Social media is, let's know what the term Social is and what Dilemma means.

SOCIAL?

The word Social goes hand in hand with Man, People and his environment. Man is a social animal that uses communication through Letters, texts or through the media.

Social Media is any platform created through technology and science by Tech Companies and Industries for communication, fun and to gain information etc.

Most of this platforms include, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp and lots more.

DILEMMA?

Dilemma on a common view is a state of confusion where a man finds himself in his day to say life.

It is a circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.

SOCIAL DILEMMA?

Social Dilemma is a state of epiphany to weigh the pros and cons of the advantages of social life and its media on him and the disadvantages of what he feels are social to him and the negative effects of social media on his day to day life.

SOCIAL DILEMMA AS A DOCUMENTARY

Social Dilemma is a Netflix Documentary aired on January 2020 by Tech Experts from Silicon Valley to sound alarm to the public on the dangerous impacts if social network on individual, which Tech Industries and Social Media Platform Companies impose on the public in order o get them Sulked in and pry on the weaknesses of human minds and other dangerous things indirectly.

According to the Documentary, Tech Companies employ many ways to exploit, pry on the minds of the people all to gain engagements.

Most of these ways include:

1. ADDICTION

Addiction is a pathological relationship to mood altering experience that has life damaging effects or consequences.

Social Dilemma points out that big Tech creates algorithms which are able to sulk the minds of the public into their products.

Many Social media platforms exploit human weakness by designing something called "positive intermittent reinforcement in mind". It makes the User spend a lot of time engaging in a particular product keeping his mind away from the real world.

Tristan Harris, An American Technology Ethicist, pointed out vividly that social media platforms are likened to a Slot Machine. He stated that each time we get pulled in or we are tickled to check our notifications and we go to our Social media platform to do so, it is like pulling the lever of a Slot Machine hoping we hit the Jackpot.

2. ATTENTION

The Documentary pointed out clearly that our attention to the platform is the product.

We do not pay any money, charges before using any social media platform and on this end we feel it is free, we do not know that our time is consumed, our time we spend on the platform is the product.

An unanswered question was chipped in: " If the companies and industries are capturing and manipulating our attention through social media platforms, how in control of our lives can we be?"

3. AS A TOOL FOR MANIPULATION AND EXPLOITATION

They way the algorithms are created to promote fake impressions and rumors in order to gain engagements from users are modes or methods employed by the Industries to gain our attention, manipulate our minds and exploit our weakness to divert from our daily lives to live on the internet and social media.

The Documentary also Exposed how Fake news, Rumors spreads like wildfire via the media and internet to gain engagements from users and these manipulates the human mind and make him spend more time than necessary on the application more often.

POSSIBLE SUGGESTIONS:

Social media is a giant flawed virus that if permitted seeps into the user's consciousness and completely eats the user from the inside if it is being left unchecked. In order to fix this problem, the Society has to treat Social media and its dangers with serious attention.

Developing a healthy social media habit: If we can protect ourselves and Families by developing healthy social media habits, the effects of social media on us as individuals will reduce.

Users could have a limit of their visits to social media, they could make out time for themselves away from social media. Users could Make out tasks they need to take on social media and avoid getting sulked into an infinite scroll.

Public awareness should be encouraged to point out the dangers or impacts of excessive use of the internet, social media to the public and how to fix the problem.

The documentary objectively appraised the effects of social media on the lives of individual users and its impact on their daily lives. Opinions from various Tech experts on how to sort out the problems posed by these Tech companies to Individual users on social media platforms or the internet.

For instance, on the 4th of October 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all crashed temporarily for about 6 hours and half the whole world were discomforted and this goes with how much impact these Social media platforms have on individual users.

Above all the criticisms, the interviewees gave credits to how much good benefit social media has provided to humans, and praised the efficiency and relevancy of fast and reliable communication output it has ensured, they believe that the aim of the documentary is not to spread panic but awareness to humans and draw attention of big tech towards the mishaps involved in social media and its negative impacts on human lives.