The Darkness, The Light and the Grey In-between

Our Social Dilemma

Image from Netflix advertisment

I just finished watching a documentary called 'The Social Dilemma' on Netflix. I think that no matter if you want to or not I think everybody needs to watch this. The problems it talks about is how technology is doing more harm to us and our generation these days than ever thought possible. How these men and women who created these apps and such while the intention was good the flip side to it that what hides in the shadows and behind the screens is harming us so much more than we know and without our knowledge.

I won't go on a rant about all the points made in this documentary for it is better to watch it in full then a summary by me that will most likely lose the main objectives or key facts from it. But I will talk about one point a man-made on it towards the end. He made the point that basically in our world today more things are worth more to people or in money when they are in a negative state than a positive one. In our society, today Trees are worth more dead as paper and other products we casually and regularly use and throw out then they are alive to give us oxygen from our carbon dioxide. Or that animals such as whales are too worth more in their potential products and usages when they are dead when they are alive swimming in our oceans or populating our seas. We are worth more to other people and companies in our money sure but most of all our attention and our ideas that are persuadable through these social media.

I know I may sound weird crazy or insane right now but think about it. We are continuously influenced by what we see and hear. Our reality and information we read and hear are different from others based on these companies algorithms. We may think they are innocent but the darker side to them and the lurching truth is that it is not always what it seems. These conspiracies and propaganda are spread by these apps and fake news. People believe the world is flat and some even believe Australia does not exist. I know it sounds ridiculous but it is true. These people are victims of conspiracies and propaganda. They say that fake news travels on these sights about six times faster than true news. These propagandas spread faster than the facts and that in its self to me in worrying.

Believing me is your choice, reading this was your choice but it was a choice you made. Some of these algorithms are so advanced that they know us and what we will do next to better than we do. Our interests, what will get us to stay on these apps longer they all contribute. Every click is calculated and our next move predicted.

Look, I am not telling you to all delete social media for that would be useless but limit yourself on it if you cannot bear to part with it fully. Watch what or who you follow, what you click and like, who you tag and share with, as well as what is recommended for you. For even some people in this documentary, the creators of things such as the Facebook like button in this documentary admitted that when they thought of the idea for it they thought it would provide some positivity to people to brighten their days and spread some joy while today it is used and abused as young teens are fixated on the idea of hundreds and thousands of likes and of becoming famous through these apps. Lots of likes on posts, lots of followers, lots of attention and that the lack of likes now can lower these teens self-esteem can make them feel unloved or invisible when they are not. Something once intentionally thought of and created to spread joy is now on the flip side contributing to the mental health crisis in teenagers in this current day and age.

Technology is slowly in my opinion strangling and detaching us all from one another even though it seems to do the opposite. The flip side is the side that is damaging our ties to one another in our basic and most natural level and way. We are creating false and fake connections online than strong and more humane connections in real life.

Humane technology is a thing that needs to be done but we are the only ones who can call for the nation, we are the only ones capable of creating this change and if not for us then for the generations to come. So that this negativity and deep and dark roots of social media do not continue to spread further into our lives and society than it already has. So that we do not become so obsessed, so attracted and so reliable to technology that it gets to the point of making us vulnerable, more so than we already are.

Please do watch this documentary and think of ways you can stop this flip side of social media from spreading and continuing to impact the future generations. Do what My dad did with us though we didn't want to he told us all day that we will be watching a movie later on that night. When it came time to it he told us to give him our phones and they were put in the kitchen and we all sat down and watched a movie about how and 'explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations'. This Movie on Netflix, this Documentary was called ...

'/The Social Dilemma'...

Authors Notes

This really is a fantastic doco and even though I did not want to watch it and first it opened my eyes quite a bit to the flip side of these apps and things we use. I don't use social media very much mainly to contact and talk to some of my friends but still, it opened my eyes more than any PowerPoint, GoogleSlides or lecture I have received ever has because it was about the problems to these apps and platforms and the dangers of them were explained by the very people who foundered and create them. I hope you are doing well and I hope you all stay Cyber Safe.

#CyberSaftey

#/TheSocialDilemma

#OurSocialDilemma

First Published on the 1st of October 2020