The Social Dilemma raises some important questions. But historically, hasn’t all technology – including social media – been double-edged?
Ironic that I posted this review on Facebook after having watched the much hyped ‘The Social Dilemma‘ on Netflix.
Relevant points
It is after all, a docu-drama that attempts to awaken us to the insidious takeover of our lives by social media.
Both FB and Netflix mine you and me for revenues. While the latter charges subscription fees, the former is ‘free’, because it is our engagement and attention span that is being sold to advertisers. We ARE the products up for sale for social media companies.
Behaviours are manipulated by creating news feeds and recommendations that are distinctly tailored for everyone.
Such psychological engineering is used for commercial and political profit.
Social media is an addiction. Fake news is a reality.
These are fair points and known to most of us.
Why it doesn’t work
But I found ‘Social Dilemma’ insufferable for quite a few reasons.
– It could have been a crisp 30-40-minute documentary instead of a 93-minute yawn fest.
– In trying to highlight and counteract social media’s machinations, the documentary resorts to alarmist, preachy and self-righteous propaganda by former social media executives who suddenly seem to have re-discovered their souls.
– The use of fictional characters, indulgent animation and needless tight closeups is designed for hipsterish sensationalist value. The implication is that the audience is not smart enough to digest straight talk.
– Most critically, social media is sought to be portrayed as some Godzilla which has suddenly landed on the scene. I ask, how would the stone age man have reacted to a newspaper or a 19th century woman to the television? It is not that Goebbels was unable to dish out powerful propaganda in the absence of the Internet. And social media itself followed the Internet. Information is not necessarily captive to the medium. We shape information and vice-versa. The human capacity for resilience and innovation should never be underestimated.
– While a whole lot of people might be influenced by ‘fake news’, there is an even larger population that is questioning established narratives. My point, ‘Is there even such a thing as the absolute truth?’ So long as critical discourse is possible, several equally plausible truths can co-exist. I have seen this with coverage around COVID-19 and the Indo-China border situation. It is up to us to use social media in the right manner. Switching off from social media apprehending mental trauma is about as sensible as foregoing electricity to avoid shocks.
Commonsense please
– An ‘expert’ says, ‘data processing power has far outstripped the human brain’s evolution over millions of years’. The truth is that our brain’s powers have not even begun to be unlocked. The fusion of brain power with artificial intelligence might actually help do exactly that.
– There is a strong case to protect children from harmful information overload. But that has always been the refrain, only the channels were different… Books, TV, etc. Social media is only the latest addition to the list.
We should be as careful in dealing with left-wing pap as much as right-wing rubbish. Apni akal lagao.
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