The Disturbing Implications of ‘The Social Dilemma’
AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO PREVENT THEM
But, in an era of misinformation and fake news, “The Social Dilemma” shows how social media’s persuasiveness and addictive powers can do real harm. Anyone who knows the latest outrage in society can see that social media played a part in propagating it, no matter how true the information behind the outrage actually is. So, with that in mind, how do we break our addiction to social media? Luckily, the documentary is not without some answers. Some of the interviewees talk about how they set limits with their kids on how often they can be on social media during the day. Others removed social media from their phone completely. As simple as these methods sound, they can go far in breaking the hold that social media has on your mind. We might not be able to be completely free of social media in this day and age (unless you become a hermit and live in the woods with the bears), but knowing now that we have to fight for our own attention, we can make sure we don’t become mindless, social media- addicted drones.
We’ve all had those moments at work, at home, or in the middle of dinner with our family where we pick up our phone just to check our email or social media really quick, only to stay on far longer than we intended. Where does that time go, and how does our phone swallow up so much of it? Well, if you’ve seen the new film on Netflix called “The Social Dilemma,” you’ll know that the addictiveness of social media isn’t a flaw in the programming — it’s a feature. Through a series of interviews with former top executives at some of the world’s largest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter, we learn throughout the documentary how programmers are trained to understand the psychology of the human mind and create apps and media that are designed to keep our attention on the screen in order to sell it to advertisers. In fact, the artificial intelligence these programmers create often know our online patterns better than we know them ourselves! Now, that alone is pretty disturbing. A computer shouldn’t know so much about me that it can control my thoughts and behaviors.
review of the month
“In March, my husband and I were attacked by our neighbor’s dog in our own backyard. We were unhappy with the first attorney representing us and decided to seek a second opinion. We found Spada Law Group and have been working with Attorney Len Spada. He has gone above and beyond in helping us navigate these difficult times. We cannot thank him enough for all of his time, patience, and advice with our case!!” –Hillary V.
2 • SPADALAWGROUP.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs