The Social Dilemma

Over the weekend we watched the Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma.” Through interviews with numerous individuals who helped design and implement these internet giants, the film looks at the effect that companies such as Facebook and Google have had over billions of people around the world. Interestingly, most of those interviewed have since left the companies they helped to found and/or fuel due to their concerns about the influence of these tech giants.

Interspersed between the interviews are two other “fictional” pieces. The first involves young teenagers who are obsessively linked to social media and their parents desperate to return them to civil society, and the second is a reenactment of how we might imagine the thought processes and machinations of the creators and drivers of these web giants. Both provide rather frightening images.

As the credits roll, the interviewees recommend taking the following countermeasures to protect oneself against social media (my thoughts are italicized below)

·        Turn off notifications or reduce the number of notifications you receive

·        Uninstall social media and news apps that are wasting time

·        Use a search engine that doesn't store search history

·        Use browser extensions to block recommendations

·        Fact-check before sharing

·        Obtain sources of information with different perspectives, including sources one might disagree with

·        Do not give devices to children (age limit is unclear); no screen time (does that include Sesame Street?).

·        Never accept recommended YouTube videos

·        Try to avoid any clickbait material (I am not sure what that is)

·        Keep devices out of the bedroom after a certain time (probably good advice for adults as well)

·        Do not allow social media use until children reach high school (not easy for sure)

 

Here is the cast list (in credits order):

	Tristan Harris		Self - Google, Former Design Ethicist / Center for Humane Society, Co-Founder
	Jeff Seibert		Self - Twitter, Former Executive / Serial Tech Entrepreneur
	Bailey Richardson		Self - Instagram, Early Team
	Joe Toscano		Self - Google, Former Experience Design Consultant / Author - Automating Humanity
	Sandy Parakilas		Self - Facebook, Former Operations Manager / Uber, Former Product Manager
	Guillaume Chaslot		Self - YouTube, Former Engineer / IntuitiveAI, CEO / AlgoTransparency, Founder
	Lynn Fox		Self - Apple, Former Director of Corporate PR / Google, Former Corporate Communications
	Aza Raskin		Self - Firefox & Mozilla Labs, Former Employee / Center for Humane Technology, Co-Founder / Inventor, Infinite Scroll
	Alex Roetter		Self - Twitter, Former Senior VP of Engineering
	Tim Kendall		Self - Facebook, Former Executive / Pinterest, Former President / Moment, CEO
	Justin Rosenstein		Self - Facebook, Former Engineer / Google, Former Engineer / Asana, Co-Founder
	Randy Fernando		Self - NVIDIA, Former Product Manager / Mindful Schools, Former Executive Director / Center for Humane Society, Co-Founder (as Randima 'Randy' Fernando)
	Jaron Lanier		Self - Founding Father of Virtual Reality / Computer Scientist
	Roger McNamee		Self - Facebook, Early Investor / Venture Capitalist
	Shoshana Zuboff		Self - Harvard Business School, Professor Emeritus / Author, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
	Anna Lembke		Self - Stanford University, School of Medicine, Medical Director of Addiction Medicine
	James Fetter		Self - Anna's Son (as James Lembke)
	Mary Fetter		Self - Anna's Daughter (as Mary Lembke)
	Jonathan Haidt		Self - NYU Stern School of Business, Social Psychologist / Author, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
	Cathy O'Neil		Self - Data Scientist / Author, Weapons of Math Destruction
	Rashida Richardson		Self - NYU School of Law, Adjunct Professor / A.I. Now Institute, Director of Policy Research
	Renee DiResta		Self - Stanford Internet Observatory, Research Manager / Data for Democracy, Former Head of Policy
	Cynthia M. Wong		Self - Human Rights Watch, Former Senior Internet Researcher

I cannot say I have yet shut down my Facebook account but I am thinking about it. Fortunately, in addition to the handful of people I “follow,” I primarily receive ads for clothing, and I try not to let that do too much damage to my credit card. Given that I barely leave the house these days, that is not so difficult.

Meanwhile, stay well!

Love,

Rebecca