Unplugging in the Digital World: a Review of The Social Dilemma
In a time when society is preoccupied with reaping the benefits of social technology, the bewitching obsession of these interactive platforms has grown from advantageously engaging to detrimentally addictive. In his eye-opening documentary, The Social Dilemma, Jeff Orlowski reveals the damaging and long-lasting effects of social media on its users. As an avid advocate of the Unplug movement, I was elated to find out about the release of a Netflix documentary that would divulge any of the myriad issues associated with social media technology. I had personally succumbed to the addictive tendencies that many of my peers exhibited during my time as a smartphone owner: obsessive page refreshing and alarmingly dismal attitude towards like and follower counts—not to mention my disturbingly high screen time reports.
A large portion of the film focuses on the addictive nature of social media apps such as Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, where users create and share content, participating in social networking on a global scale. The narrative focuses on marketing and advertisements as a part of social networking, highlighting the unfortunate monetization of the users’ interactions on almost all social media platforms. Tristan Harris, a former ethicist for Google, introduces the idea of "surveillance capitalism," which describes the profit gained by advertisers through tracking every single action taken by a user. This platform-wide monetization strategy is a marketplace that prioritizes advertisements' success with seemingly no regard for ethics: namely, its users’ privacy. "They have more information about us than has ever been imagined in human history," adds Shoshana Zuboff, Ph.D. As I listened to one expert after another criticize the intensity of this ethical conundrum, I became captivated by how much I had contributed to the worldwide conglomeration of 'private' data essentially made public. Unsurprisingly, it was all for profit.
The theme of exploitation developed in these introductory sections is developed consistently throughout the film. A combination of interview conversations, media clips, text-filled b-roll, and fictional scenes explain the dilemma of addictivity and exploitation at hand. The interviewees featured throughout the story contribute a tangible honesty in their brief but repeated appearances in the film. I especially appreciated the anecdotes provided by the various former employees of large technology companies, which offered an authentic perspective on just how conspicuous these issues were for the many technology experts.
However, I do have some criticism on the scattered portions of stereotyped scenes included throughout the film. A typical white family, set in suburban America, is shown in different cliche scenarios where they notice many of their own side effects brought upon by social media. While I understand how the clips intended to show social media's impact on the real world, I felt that they ignored the nuance of the issue by notably downplaying the severity of addiction that had already been established. Regardless, these clips were able to appeal to and connect with younger audiences, which Orlowski has been praised for in his other documentaries.
The fictional clips remain only minor hindrances — the lack of data was what truly bothered me. I was upset to see much less data and science than I would expect from quite a systematic matter of concentration. The zealousness of Orlowski's Chasing Coral left a standard of immaculate attention to detail, of which The Social Dilemma fell short. Both documentaries, Chasing Coral and The Social Dilemma, are scientific films, and I believe that the constant emphasis on physical data provided throughout Chasing Coral added passion to the narrative, and built suspense for the viewers. In particular, I would have appreciated more allusions to research-driven data addressing the effect of social media on mental health. Throughout the documentary, I noted exactly three numerical statistics that supported the claims made and only sparse references to other less specific supporting data. Even though the documentary was more than just a compilation of unreliable anecdotes, I remain unimpressed by the lack of facts and figures that could have been incorporated into the narrative.
As the documentary came to a close, I tried to reignite my initial reactions while also looking at the narrative from a more comprehensive lens. What I was most impressed by — in regards to the film's execution — was its ability to make me question myself. I think that these kinds of "societal expose"-style documentaries often attempt to portray large-scale issues in a way that impacts viewers long after watching them.
How does one small object detract from the authenticity of my entire life? How much have my decisions and thoughts been impacted by social media? This documentary tells the story of modern Americans and prompts its viewers to think mainly about their own naivete and even feeling alienated from an obsessive amount of smartphone usage. Through the passion and urgency emanated by the brains behind our screens, The Social Dilemma sheds light on what I believe to be one of the most burdensome problems of society.
by JADYN THIBODEAU