The popular Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma,” has recently entered the Top 10 movie selections on Netflix. Directed by Jeff Orlwoski, we learn in the docu-drama that human beings are products to advertisers. We are manipulated by algorithms that are created to capture our attention and give us a fixed perception of the world.
The documentary features top executives from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other websites that dig into the minds of their audiences. The experts assure viewers that they never intended for their sites to become as intrusive and addictive as they have become. They declare that their influences within the apps were made out of good intentions.
The experts go on to spill all the details that their job entailed. Google design ethicist and product philosopher Tristan Harris studied the way applications affected user’s overall mental health and behavioral patterns. He compared the act of checking your phone to a slot machine. Meaning, when people refresh their social media, sometimes they get the reward of likes or comments and other times they get nothing.
We are worth more when we are addicted to the randomness of the site because we are constantly opening our phones waiting for a notification to pop up and then seeing an ad in the process. Harris became increasingly concerned about the effects of screen applications, causing him to leave Google and co-found the Center for Humane Technology.
“The movie was super eye-opening because even though I get notifications every day, I have never once thought about why I am getting them. It is super creepy how my phone knows me better than most people in my life,” said senior Rebecca Valencia.
“The Social Dilemma,” recommends viewers turn off notifications, delete time-wasting apps, research different points of views on worldly issues and be careful about trusting everything you read online.