In The Social Dilemma, a documentary featured on Netflix, top executives, engineers, and designers at social media companies expose the many ways these corporations are taking advantage of their users and exploiting the information they are collecting on them.
In summary, social media users were described as being the “product”. One individual who was interviewed stated that “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product” while another individual claimed that “it’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in [our] own behavior and perception that is the product.” In other words, advertisers are paying social media platforms for advertisement time and the opportunity to convince users to buy their products.
It was revealed throughout the documentary just how much data social media platforms are collecting, storing, and selling to advertisers. One individual revealed that every action a user makes was being monitored and recorded, including the amount of time you look at an item or a specific post. These designers and engineers are always trying to figure out how to “psychologically manipulate you…and give you back that dopamine hit.” Executives and engineers were also falling victim to this manipulation, as many of them explained they found themselves unable to put their phones down. If these executives, engineers, and designers think that social media is toxic, it is imperative for these platforms to be regulated and/or changed all together.
I completely agree with the points that were presented within this documentary. It is quite scary to think how many people are falling into the trap that social media engineers have created. Sometimes I find myself spending hours of my time on social media despite knowing its negative effects. All social media platforms are built to take you down a “rabbithole.” My main concern is that these social media giants are claiming to “self-regulate” but can we truly trust them to do this when they are gathering data about us without our complete knowledge of them doing so?
Bridget, this documentary has been on my list for a while and I find this so interesting. The points made by this documentary seem to be reinforced by the recent Facebook expose. Not only are we the “product” but platforms like Facebook actually profit off of hate speech and misinformation. Social media has brought good and made us more connected, but it also has brought out a really dark side which is becoming more and more evident.