By Matt Duncan
Coastal View News
Hi, I’m Matt—I’m an email-aholic. I check it too much. I
can’t resist. I get a little rush each time I tap “refresh”, though, I have to
admit, the high isn’t what it used to be. I want to stop checking my email.
There’s no real reason to. It’s not like I get a ton of urgent messages, nor is
it like I’m getting tons of awesome, uplifting emails (one-quarter spam,
one-quarter non-spam that I treat like spam, one-quarter annoying emails from
students, one-quarter mixed bag).
I know I’m not alone. There are others like me—who battle
the same demons I battle. For some it’s email. For others it’s Facebook,
Twitter, or Instagram. Whatever the digital drug is, there’s no denying it: We’re
hooked.
And it's no
accident, according the creators of "The Social Dilemma" (exclusively
on Netlfix). We’re hooked because Google, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
etc., want us hooked, know how to hook us, and have indeed been doing
everything in their considerable power to make sure that we can't put down our smart
phones for very long.
"The
Social Dilemma" is a documentary that features leading figures within the
tech industry as well as influential commenters on the methods and effects of various
internet platforms (especially social media). They basically say what the likes
of Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are doing to us.
It ain't
pretty. Let's start with the kids. They're going crazy on social media.
Literally. Not only are they hooked just like the rest of us, teens' and
preteens' use of social media is having horrible effects on their psyches—anxiety,
depression, and body-image issues. The "Like" button is straight-up smack.
Only legal.
Then there's
the adults. Let's talk politics. Because that's what everyone likes to do on
social media. The problem is that platforms like Facebook and Twitter employ
advanced algorithms (good ones, too) to make sure you get exactly the
information fix you want—not info that's true,
or balanced, or important to hear; just the info that gives you pleasure. So
Republicans are hearing what they want to hear, Democrats are hearing what they
want to hear. And, of course, it’s not the same message. So we don't occupy the
same information space; we are experiencing totally different worlds. Which is
a recipe for awful, divisive partisanship.
There's more—plenty
more. The tech giants are molding, bending, manipulating, contorting us to do
whatever they want, which, among other things, is to keep consuming their
products like frat boys guzzling cheap beer.
How are they
doing it? Psychology and algorithms. They know how addiction works. And, given
that they have access to all of our data—so much data!—they can feed that data
into learning AI that then builds algorithms that predict our behavior with
astonishing accuracy. They are like the mad neuroscientists in horror movies who
control people’s minds, only they don’t have to bother with a neural implant. We
are hypnotized.
Technology is
not all bad, of course. As the current and former tech execs in "The
Social Dilemma" point out, these platforms have also done good things—maybe
even a lot of good things. But is it worth it? The overall message from
"The Social Dilemma" is "regulate, regulate, regulate". The
penitent millionaires interviewed in this movie seem to hope that more
government control of the internet could help with the aforementioned problems.
But here’s
another potential solution: Delete. That's what I did. Right after watching
this movie, I deleted the Facebook app from my phone. There are things I like
about Facebook, but, for a little while now, I've realized that checking
Facebook brings me more pain than pleasure. I'm much more likely to feel anger,
outrage, and jealousy than admiration, love, and joy. And, unfortunately, these
bad feelings are addicting too—once I start with anger, outrage, or jealousy, it's
really hard to stop. And these are not good feelings. Unlike getting high on
heroin, or drunk on wine, or stoned on weed, digital addictions don't feel
good. They're the ultimate downers.
Watching
"The Social Dilemma" is kind of a downer too, I guess. Unlike our
carefully culled social media feeds, this movie is not designed to make you
feel pleasure. It is designed to confront you with hard truths (again, unlike
those social media feeds).
“The Social
Dilemma” is an effective movie, though not necessarily a perfect one. The guy most
at the center of the movie—former Google Design Ethicist, Tristan Harris—is a
bit self-righteous and preachy (I mean, for the love of Pete, he pronounces his
name “Trist-on”). And there’s a pretty cheesy dramatization woven in-between
all of the very informative, interesting interviews. The movie would have been
better without that.
Still, watch it.
