The Social Dilemma

I watched a new documentary on Netflix this weekend and, as I said in the past, most people are on social media with their “eyes wide shut”.  When I say this, I mean we don’t really see what this has done to our kids and the environment that we live in today.  I’ve always said, “you can say anything in social media. ” Say a person takes a picture in front of a mirror saying “at the gym”. They post…”great workout today.” when in reality they are on the couch doing nothing and that pictures was taken 5 years ago.  Interesting… people reply… “great job, way to stay in shape” etc.  This person presented something they wanted people to see but really was looking for good recognition and validation.  What that means is our kids who go on these medias first were looking for “Followers”  to see if they are popularity.  This gave them feeling of being someone.  After that, they looked for “likes” feeling validation or approval.  The problem is… who really followed or liked… are they really qualified to provide them both approval and validation.  Then comes the addiction to the process.  I should say the need to stay in the game with everyone.  FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).  How this affected the younger generation was to see their “so call” friends having fun with others who may have not included them.  What did this do with their feeling of being a part of the pack or discovering who really was a friend and who was FAKE.  Now back to the documentary… The Social Dilemma reveals a dystopian narrative about technology that harks back to moral panics which again dictates the divide of people and issues surrounding the world in the way they want you to see it. The technology is so strong with the algorithms used by these medias, that it informs a wide audience about issues like surveillance, persuasive design practices, and the spread of misinformation online, which may encourage them to hold big technology companies accountable. I would recommend you watch this documentary and see if it holds true to what you see today with your family, friends and mostly children.  The funny things is… most silicon valley executives involved with these medias do not allow their children to be on these platforms… Why?