#6 Julianne Danielle S.

Ding 11 ABM

Media and the Audience

The Social Dilemma, Netflix’s new documentary-drama, combines the negative impact of
social media with interviews with tech experts, including several former employees of Silicon
Valley giants. The reasons that pushed them to leave the major social media sites despite their
high positions in those companies have been explained by these tech experts. These squad of
engineers and executives who designed the addiction-machines of social media but have now
repented left their previous jobs because they feel guilty about the harms they unwittingly
inflicted on society and describe some of their algorithmic perversions' details. These
technology innovators have discussed how their companies have created technology that
manipulates the human psyche so effectively and express their remorse for what they have
released. They are guilty of how tech firms have impacted ethnic violence, elections, and
depression and suicide rates. They are guilty of the harm caused to society by the rise of social
media, its exploitation of its users for financial gain through surveillance capitalism and data
mining, how its nature is intended to nurture addiction, its use in politics, its effect on mental
health, including adolescent mental health and rising suicide rates for adolescents, and its
influence in the spread of conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and aiding groups such as flat-
earthers. Their warnings are dreadful. Former Facebook executive Tim Kendall says in the film
that his greatest short-term concern is "civil war." Meanwhile, technology pioneer Jaron Lanier
warns, “If we go down the status quo for, let’s say, another 20 years, we probably destroy our
civilization through willful ignorance.” Tristan Harris, Google's former design ethicist, said,"
“Never before in history have 50 designers made decisions that would have an impact on two
billion people.” Anna Lembke, a Stanford University addiction expert, states that these
businesses take advantage of the evolutionary need of the brain for interpersonal connection.
Besides this, Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook, provides a chilling claim:
Facebook was not hacked by Russia; it simply used the platform. The message these tech
innovators are trying to tell us is that all we read online should be questioned, particularly if it is
presented to us in a way that represents a detailed understanding of our preferences and
inclinations .We should also avoid the "attention extraction model" that makes social media
appear reinforcing and friendly. They assert that these companies are coded with Machiavellian
precision for the exploitation of human behavior for profit: infinite scrolling and push notifications
keep users engaged constantly; personalized suggestions use data not only to anticipate but
also to influence our behavior, and making users into easy targets for advertisers and
propagandists. These technology innovators disclose that algorithms designed to get our
attention and make us buy stuff, like buying into twisted perceptions about the world, ourselves,
and each other, exploit and even rewire our brains. In addition, these conscientious defectors
from these businesses indicate that a feature, not a bug, is the perniciousness of social
networking sites. However, amid the confessionals and doomsaying, the final recommendations
to the average consumer of these tech products are frustratingly unoriginal. These suggestions
for self-help include uninstalling applications that waste time, turning off notifications, verifying
evidence before sharing sources, and following individuals with different views than you. It also
ends with interviewees exhorting audiences to “change the conversation” around technology.

Some of the dominant domains that affect the audience in the documentary are the
belief domain and affective domain. As a viewer, the belief domain affected me because my
perception about social media quickly changed upon knowing the revelation made by the tech
innovators in their interview. Before watching the documentary, I was somehow convinced that
Google is tracking my activities because it has recommended me news stories, videos, or links
about what I’m currently obsessed about. For instance, I am obsessed again with BTS, although
I became a fan three years ago, so there isn’t a day where I don’t watch their videos, stalk them
in their social media accounts, or read an article about them. I realized that the first news story
that is recommended by Google when I open the app, is about BTS. Upon watching the
documentary, my assumptions were affirmed, and it made me scared. Because of that, I stop
myself if I realize that I can’t stop scrolling while using Facebook or YouTube. I realized that I’m
certainly manipulated by how social media was designed. In the documentary, we can see the
belief domain affecting the characters such as Isla who is a pubescent daughter with self-image
issues and Ben who is a teenage son who’s radicalized by YouTube recommendations
promoting a vague ideology. Because of the power of social media, Isla believes that she isn’t
enough, and becomes insecure with her looks and her self-esteem is reduced while is Ben is
seduced by extremist disinformation leading to misinformation. Another domain that affected me
as a viewer is the affective domain. This domain suggests that media can trigger man’s
inclination towards something he perceives. As what I mentioned, I was scared upon learning
about how the Internet’s most popular products work on a basic business model of tracking
users’ behavior in order to sell targeted ads and induce addiction in a vicious cycle. I was
scared because I realized that I have been a victim of their business model for many years, and
seeing this documentary convinces me to stop my addiction to social media. I was also shocked
because I thought that I’m completely safe online especially that I don’t really post malicious
things. However, just the mere use of social media can be dangerous because it can make us
addicted to it. I’m never going to look at social media the same way again. In the film, Isla
became so obsessed with her phone that she breaks the box where her mom placed her phone
so that she won’t use it during dinner. Also, after someone shared an elephant emoji on one of
her social media posts and asked, “Can your ears be any bigger?” in a comment, she looks into
the mirror, pushes her ear as a tear drops down her face. I can clearly feel the pain she’s
experiencing from what was probably meant as a joke.

The documentary film called The Social Dilemma on Netflix and it’s one of the most
important movies the company has ever released. I like it since the documentary film is indeed
an eye-opener. I was literally scared and shocked upon learning about the revelations made by
the tech innovators. The documentary does not soften any punches. It refers to us as lab rats in
a way that is not meant to be funny anymore. We’re all rats at this point. We think it’s all about
getting cheese as a reward and it’s harmless, but there is a lot more at stake. Not sure if you
know this, but most lab rats don’t live a long and fruitful life. I love how there is a fictional
account of a perfectly normal American family whose kids are manipulated and ruined by their
addiction to social media. This is Orlowski’s way of persuading non-tech-savvy viewers that the
documentary stuff is not only real but is inflicting tangible harm on their teenagers. It’s a way of
saying: Pay attention: this stuff really matters! Social media is not only scarring self-esteem,
making people question their self-worth, causing dissatisfaction in life, increasing depression
and suicides at an alarming rate but now has transcend past to more dangerous territory. It is
now altering behavior and changing the perception of how people perceive this world rigidly
than ever at the expense of attention that is being sold. Democracy is being toppling around the
world, political divide is higher and more extreme than ever, false news is spreading faster than
the speed of light, and citizens are on the verge of civil war. This is bad and I can see it, I just
didn't know social media is responsible for it. It’s not a documentary about the harmful effects of
social media. Rather, it’s a much-detailed insight on the business models of these companies.
After watching this I felt a bit violated and felt like a break in social media was well overdue, but
it’s impossible for me to do so since I’m having my online class, and this is needed for us to
communicate important reminders. The most disturbing bit for me was the phrase "there are
only 2 industries that refer to their customers as users, the illegal drugs trade and tech
companies" and I thought then that if you think about it, they both create addicts then profit from
the addiction. It is A very clever and thought-provoking film. This documentary is just a peek into
what they're really doing to our society and I hope more documentaries like this will be created.