The Social Dilemma: Think Twice Before You Scroll

A lot of us have known it for some time now. Social media is a gift that comes at a heavy cost. Harvesting of personal data, fake news, increased screen time, social media addiction, tribalism, communal unrest; directly or indirectly, social media brings as much chaos into our lives, as connectivity and convenience. But if you are one of those people who are still oblivious to this connection, or choose to ignore it willingly, then Netflix’s latest documentary The Social Dilemma is a film that you need to watch. All of us need to understand how important it is to question the tech that we hold in our hands.

Directed by Jeff Orlowski, the filmmaker who has previously made Chasing Ice, an Emmy Award-winning documentary on climate change, The Social Dilemma talks about the drawbacks of social media, but from the perspective of industry insiders. When tech wizards from core teams of Instagram, Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc., say that we the “users” are a commodity that is being sold to advertisers, to earn money by these giants, it is hard to not be alarmed. This documentary puts social media and its usage on the autopsy table and dissects it layer by layer. Even for someone who has been following up on the issues of data harvesting, or mental health impact of social media with a mild interest (not all of us are social media experts, let us face that) the documentary offers some food for thought.

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Apart from blatantly pointing out the commodification of users, The Social Dilemma makes the viewer question the urge to scroll mindlessly. Ever find yourself watching most satisfying cakes or cute puppy videos at one in the morning? Did you tell yourself that you’ll put down your phone after watching one more reel on Instagram, only to realise that you have wasted an hour of your day "zombied" out? Turns out there is a method to this madness, the one that wants us to deliberately spend more time gawking at our smartphones, and eventually spurs a compulsion in us, that makes us reach out for our phone almost subconsciously, innumerable times through the day.

One of the most eye-opening testimonials on the show is from Justin Rosenstein, a former Facebook engineer, who developed the platform’s indispensable “Like” button. He points out how the button was designed to spread “positivity and love” but then ended up becoming a behaviour-tracking device. Alas, this is also where the film seems to fall a bit short. It makes us glare at these problems that could apparently push us into anarchy, or worse, extinction, but doesn’t offer any concrete solutions.

Besides, this sudden moral epiphany of former engineers and tech employees isn't easy to digest. You help build the system, you kept feeding and improvising it, clearly with an aim to earn a profit. How come no one thought of the possible repercussions of social media's capitalist approach, while its way was being paved? One reasonable explanation could be that social networking is growing at breakneck speed, and foresight into its negative aspects was limited by the time technical teams had, to understand its growth. However, as viewers, we shouldn’t get pacified with this explanation. Because at the end of the day it is our well-being that is on the line here. We cannot let social media creators get away with unleashing technology on us that they themselves didn't fully understand.

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If there is one takeaway from this film for each of us, is that we need to question the tech and advancements that we have been handed. What is in it for the company/person who is giving me this amazing feature? Why does an app need to access my photos or location? Is it worth it to say yes to all the terms and conditions and sacrificing my private chats to a cold-blooded AI who can use that information as it pleases?

Last year, when a menstrual health app was in news for leaking user data to Facebook, I spoke with Supreme Court advocate NS Nappinai, who said that one of the problems was that as consumers, we do not pay attention to what we are signing away. “Our choices and actions should have the highest level of privacy.” Read more about it here.

The onus of ensuring that our privacy and sanctity are respected rests equally with people running these apps and on us. Don’t let the shock value of The Social Dilemma wear off. Every time you open your social media, every time you like, scroll, watch, or share something, ask yourself, why am I doing this, and who truly stands to gain here?

Image Credit: YouTube screenshot

The views expressed are the author's own.