There was nothing enlightening here. I felt that the engineering from social, psychological, computational, and mathematical aspects were interesting and should have been explored more, since they essentially glossed over the misinformation campaigns running rampant on every social media platform the world over. Even if this doc would've focused on regulation, or the lack thereof, that would've been something, but they chose to not call any entities out, remain middle-of-the-road, and out of the fray. I think that this topic would've been much better served as a multi-part series that explored the various ramifications of social media, rather than 90 minutes of glossed over, big-picture fluff that didn't hit at the heart of any of the numerous implications caused by the inherent designs of social media platforms.
I will say, however, there were far better recommendations for how to combat this ever-present problem in the last few moments of the film, while the credits rolled. The director had the interviewees each list methods they utilize to prevent overexposure to the ills of social media to them and their families.
It is good to point the issues, it'd have been much more interesting to hear about proposed solutions besides "regulations".
Bit of a mixed bag. While I agree that it's disturbing and that something should definitely be done, what's equally disturbing is that the filmmakers didn't feel the need to share solutions until the very last minute, while the credits rolled (which to me makes it look less important). It's like during editing they noticed how depressing the whole thing was, so they figured they needed to at least try to offer some solutions.
I feel like they should have shortened the parts with the parallel illustrative movie to include some actual tips on how to deal with social media in its current state. Change is going to take a while, so being able to deal with it as it is right now is a requirement.
Amazing. This should be shown in schools, airports, etc everywhere.
An interesting and very disturbing documentary on how we are all being manipulated.
i was a little skeptical at the start, cuz they were just saying things we already know, but later the extent of it, GOD! blew my fucking mind
While I do think that it is an amazing film that everyone should watch, unfortunately, I think that creators spend too much time focusing on shock value to truly get the right messages across. I have personally been "social media aware" for about 9 months now and have read multiple books on this issue, and they don't portray the dystopian society that this film does. By focusing more on how people can change their habits and by showing that it is possible to live with social media, this film would have much more of an impact.
Absolutely nothing new here. Actually a lot missing. Maybe it's focused to the US audience idk.
Left me frustated..Even though we know some things this documentary makes you scary... 7.5/10
Wish I could obligate people to watch this!
This is what happens when everyone wants free stuff. Do people really not know how companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter make money? You either choose to sell yourself or you don't.
The Dramatization-For-Dummies approach was ineffective.
EVERYONE should see this movie - especially if you have kids, this is terrifying.
It's a well-made Docu-movie that doesn't preach or go overboard with scaring you, it presents the facts straight up.
The fact that all of the people being interviewed are former CEO/Presidents etc of the big tech companies (Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Google) is proof that people can actually grow a conscience, but the genie is out of the bottle and can't be put back in.
Solid 10/10
Really interesting documentary into not just how social media controls us but the internet in general. If we let it it can control our opinions and I fear for the youth of the today because this is only going to get worse.
Very important information that's being delivered here. I think it would have been better without the narrative though.
Also: How ironic it was that netflix' algorithms immediately played trailers for other movies when the credits began to roll. And of course the total lack of their own manipulation tactics.
Whole pile of obvious tactics explained like it was rocket science and people aren't aware
Good "docu-drama." Eloquent and concise. Too bad that its message will enter one ear and come out from the other in one swift move. When the end credits roll, everyone will be back sending selfies and hitting like buttons in their distorted social media bubble. Well, don't say nobody warned you.
I am not the target audience for this documentary so probably shouldn’t be passing judgment. I am a tech-saavy individual that is beyond the age of being influenced by social media. I have Facebook and a barely active twitter and reddit account. I purposely do not engage with Facebook advertising and actively Snope anyone that posts things without researching first. Do as they suggest in the last few minutes of the video, turn your notifications off everywhere you can, research the facts before propagating information when there’s “truth” that bears no facts and, yeah, it’s probably a good idea to keep children off social media until their brains are fully formed at age 21 or be sure that as a parent you have a very very close relationship with that child so you know everything that is effecting them.
This documentary is above all thought provoking about how much screen time we take everyday and how are thoughts about certain things can be skewed in the direction that a social platform enforces.... scary....
Like some have said, there was nothing new here. And I think they missed big part of the solution. We need to help humans improve with better education and better mental health care. If people can take care of their vices by getting help and having a support system this stops being a problem.
There is a big part of the population that doesn't know that news feeds are custom tailored to them but the problem is that they don't seem being capable of making their own mind about topics they need a better education and support system.
And they throw a lot of blame to the big companies but the regulation should come from the government. For me is like blaming the alcohol manufactures for people having DUIs, doesn't make much sense.
Regulate the drug YES...
...BUT ALSO help people not take it in the first place.
The scripted story with the actors was so lame. I know they wanted something more complex not just a documentary with interviews but :man_shrugging_tone1::person_facepalming_tone1:
Basically a 90 minutes long documentary that softly tries to expose the evilness and flaws of big tech platforms capitalism without ever properly naming big tech platforms capitalism.
Indeed, it describes a real-world problem, however, from the wrong perspective IMHO.
These companies do not keep data collection and analysis as a secret - it's mentioned every in registration criteria. And I believe it's beneficial for users if used wisely. If you provide only selective data to the network you can actually train the algorithms to give you only content you actually want.
The real problems that the movie mentions are disinformation and addiction. However, those are consequences of bad education - kids/people, in general, are not taught how to verify the information they find on the internet. They have zero knowledge about some basic security and most importantly, they are not taught any online ethics.
I would like to also pinpoint the fact that it's not just social media. Fake information are also in paper-news, manipulation is done via television, billboards, songs, etc...
I believe all this tech can be very useful if we'll start to educate ourselves on how to process information, how to behave, and how to manage our time. We can't blame companies for our stupidity.
In a word, dumb. If you're under the age where you understand how algorithms work, there's nothing new here and the narrative laid out is that technology is causing our problems (a traditionalist trope) instead of it being the inability of a large part of our population to change fast enough.
If someone watches a YouTube video that convinces them that the world is flat, they're dumb. It's not more complicated than that. I feel like people who aren't morons who grew up with the internet understand not to trust things that you hear on it, and that really is what the message needs to be, simply, "don't take things on faith." Whoever you're listening to is probably at the very least massaging the facts, and that's ok. It's just human nature to do that. Our problem isn't the internet puts bad ideas out there; it's that some people are unable to reject bad ideas. It's on them.
Take this documentary as you wish, but there is something really scary about the extent to which social media controls us. As you watch you begin to realize that Facebook and other social media platforms are telling you what to think and not letting you think for yourself. It is a crazy thought, but one that largely explains the extreme political divide that we face right now in the United States. People continue to see things online that they already believe, which strengthens their belief in that thing, no matter if its right or wrong. This is because the formula social media uses to keep you engaged is to show you things you agree with. If you disagree with something you are less likely to interact with it. I hope that what people learn from this is that we need to start seeing all sides of things no matter how wrong or immoral we view the other side to be. A MUST WATCH.
We all dig the perks of being connected — finding those friends you thought you'd lost to the sands of time and not missing out on wishing someone a happy birthday. But then there’s the downside: echo chambers, hate going viral, and getting bombarded with “news” that’s as nutritious as junk food. We love zipping messages across the globe in a heartbeat but don’t fancy our real-world chats getting bulldozed by a screen. We’re all about cherishing the good bits while giving the not-so-great parts the cold shoulder.
What I was hoping for from this movie was a no-nonsense, fact-driven dive into this tech tangle. Instead, it painted a picture of social media and the tech giants like some sort of digital Dracula, out to suck our brains dry of free will. And it kind of turned a blind eye to any research that might throw water on its fire. What really got me was how it wrapped up without handing us any sort of game plan on how to tackle the mess it laid out before us. And there are solutions! Alternative platforms, public awareness campaigns, encryption, the concepts of digital hygiene and literacy, mindful usage practices, demanding greater transparency from platforms about how their algorithms work... just to name a few.
As the credits rolled, there was this moment where they threw us a few breadcrumbs like deleting apps or ghosting your social media life, and crossing fingers that the folks in charge might do something. But seriously, is hunkering down in a digital fallout shelter and waiting for a miracle the best we can do? Tossing out social media entirely? Relying on American Congress for a lifeline? Please. That’s about as hopeful as expecting a group of toddlers to run a three-ring circus without turning it into a pie-throwing contest.
These “solutions” don’t really touch the heart of the issue. And honestly, I’d bet my last Polish Zloty that not many folks walked away from that film ready to spring into action. How could they, when the film’s basically like going to a cooking class, being shown all the ways your diet is harming you, but then not being taught any recipes to fix it? Worse, imagine the chef knows all these great, healthy recipes but decides not to share them because they assume you’re too set in your ways or not skilled enough to cook them. That’s not just leaving you hungry for solutions; it’s a complete letdown. They had a chance to dish out some real, practical advice on handling the digital overload but chose to keep the kitchen closed, sticking to a narrative that was more about stirring up fears than whipping up solutions. Why they’d go down that path, especially when they had the ingredients for something so much more helpful, is a head-scratcher. It feels like a big missed opportunity to genuinely equip viewers with the tools to navigate the digital age more wisely.
Not as bad as I thought it'd be, as someone who came in after having already done quite a bit of reading on the topic (via books/articles often written by the folks in this documentary, I might add).
Yes, it's pretty introductory when it comes to all the behavioral/cognitive aspects of the argument against social media and goes only slightly more in depth on political polarization, with some chilling practical examples from Southeast Asia that help the doc not get too (US-centrically) political. Also there's these cringe-y narrative interludes, something that anglo documentarists seem to love, which has to straddle the line between depicting a young white man radicalizing through online conspiracies and not explicitly identifying this ideology as the, huh, alt right movement it clearly is. I tend to find Vincent Kartheiser reliably hilarious in everything, though, which also happened here, where he plays a personification of The AlgorithmTM straight out of the garbage bin of a Black Mirror writer's room.
Yet overall I think it's a pretty solid starting point, particularly given how it emphasizes that the criticism is coming from inside the house, from the very people who invented this tech. "Love that you're recommending something to undo what you made." the interviewer tells one of the guys behind the Youtube recommendation algorithm as the credits roll. After the credits are done rolling, obviously, Netflix's algorithm will recommend you something else (in my case it was Nimona) and do its countdown thingie. Which was just brilliant.
It is a great documentary if you don't know much about how social media works. It is good if you know some things already. Dramatizations could have been better.
A disturbing documentary about the power of large technology companies in a capitalist system. I highly recommend this documentary to the general public, who tend to be less aware of how external influences affect their lives. I felt, however, that the documentary's presentation was somewhat sensationalist and didn't acknowledge the more intricate nuances of the issues discussed.
The documentary is a bit uneven, it starts somewhat slow and the most interesting parts are in the middle, when the way algorithms work is discussed. However, it is a little disappointing that these themes are not discussed in greater depth and no solutions are shown apart from pieces of advice given at the very end, which you can miss if you stop watching after the credits as many people do. I guess I would prefer reading about the dangers of social media than watching it in a movie, but this is because I remember information from books better, I wish I had taken some notes to study them later. The movie is definitely an eye-opener, though I still cannot grasp why it is wrong that I see e.g. Facebook posts on subjects that interest me such as my favourite writer instead of some random stuff I do not care a whit about it. And it seemed to me that some people are stupid taking decision on the basis of what they read on Facebook, without consulting other sources. I am also a bit disappointed that the little feature film included in the documentary finished so abruptly and we do not know what happened to the characters. I guess it was unfair that Cass got arrested as well, since she was against all this social media thing and just wanted to help her brother.
This is a MUST WATCH documentary.
They tell you how your data is used to the profit of the tech companies. How YOU become the product. It shows the dark sides of RECOMMENDATIONS by these algorithms. Recommendation algorithms shows you content that they predict we may like using the data models created from our data and not necessarily the CONTENT THAT WE NEED.
They keep us hooked to these platforms by using addictive features so that they can show more Ads and get profits while we loose our precious time.
this is understandably not a happy or even enjoyable watch, but it's a very good documentary. it's stressful and a little embarrassing in a way. you can immediately identify your own habits as well as people in your life who have fallen for the algorithms in play on social media—someone i thought to be very smart and compassionate has turned into a complete conspiracy nut thanks to facebook, for example.
(i really just wish i were friends with the instagram developers so they could give me the original algorithm and ad free fork they all use. i miss chronological instagram ALL THE TIME.)
A documentary that's about something really real, relatable, constantly taking place yet something dangerous which isn't actually considered as such.
Really good explain the Social media's effects in our brain.
Yeah, I couldn’t get through it. The dramatizations were just too cringe inducing to endure. The Social Dilemma is made for people that don't have any self-awareness that social media was created to be addictive. It's 2020 and I thought "social media bad :rage:" is just not a new take.
Why were so many people talking about this? Am I missing something here? Did we really need a documentary including a horrible melodramatic short film to tell us that social media is bad for mental health, full of misinformation, and that companies are using every manipulation technique possible to keep you scrolling? What is next? TV and national news are manipulative? No way!!
I was hoping to get some new insight or a discussion about real "solutions" but it was really disappointing. It’s just a bunch of people who got millions out of tech industry telling you how evil the tech industry is. They made so much money but now they're "woke", so it's okay. I found it funny that they criticize the algorithms of various social networks, but they do not criticize those of ... Netflix. :))
THE WACPINE OF ‘THE SOCIAL DILEMMA’
WRITING: 9
ATMOSPHERE: 9
CHARACTERS: 7
PRODUCTION: 8
INTRIGUE: 9
NOVELTY: 7
ENJOYMENT: 8
The Good:
Dealing with issues concerning social media technology and companies; their past, present and future; their downsides and threats on the society as a whole and the way they control and enslave us without our knowledge.
The strongest and most straightforward depiction of the dark sides of social media in documentary form so far.
The film faces the risks of social media without scaring audiences too much and provides alternatives and advice on how to fight back.
Industry professionals interviewed, giving us in-depth information from the inside, while also telling us why things have turned for the worse.
Effectively allows us to understand the scary future ahead of us while letting us know that all hope isn’t lost.
The concepts discussed are presented breathtakingly and interestingly.
The Bad:
The documentary hardly presents new or revolutionary ideas or concepts for those initiated with the subject matter.
The dramatized sequences in-between the interviews are terribly performed and completely unnecessary.
The Ugly:
Organizations don‘t need to hack social media platforms to control us. They just need to know how to use the tools created for them.
WACPINE RATING: 8.14 / 10 = 4 stars
So what they say is to tackle the effect, not the cause of the issue, which is mental healthcare and greed in our society.
nothing that i dont know already, from personal life and faculty/university.
thing is, everything from this documentary is written and shown to you when you create account on internet, BUT
its easier to scroll down and click accept, right?
for me its 5/10.
Well produced and good at creating awareness and thinking on this critical topic. I watched it on my TV and not on my mobile phone
Shout by TagougaVIP 7BlockedParent2020-09-11T13:36:33Z
“Our attention can be mined. We are more profitable to a corporation if we’re spending time staring at a screen, staring at an ad, than if we’re spending that time living our life in a rich way.
And so, we’re seeing the results of that. We’re seeing corporations using powerful artificial intelligence to outsmart us and figure out how to pull our attention toward the things they want us to look at, rather than the things that are most consistent with our goals and our values and our lives.” - Justin Rosenstein, Facebook Former Engineer, Google Former Engineer, Asana Co-Founder.
Very interesting documentary about how tech companies capitalize on human psychology and precisely on our weaknesses. A great point mentioned is how the fact that feeds are "personalized" for each user gives us that false sense that everyone agrees with us simply because everyone in our news feed sounds just like us. Getting exposed to opposing opinions, fact checking news, and choosing what to see rather than just going with what is recommended are just a few of the ideas to have somewhat of a control over what we consume.