‘The Social Dilemma’ Review: Unplug and Run

This documentary from Jeff Orlowski explores how addiction and privacy breaches are features, not bugs, of social media platforms.

That social media can be addictive and creepy isn’t a revelation to anyone who uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like. But in Jeff Orlowski’s documentary “The Social Dilemma,” conscientious defectors from these companies explain that the perniciousness of social networking platforms is a feature, not a bug.

They claim that the manipulation of human behavior for profit is coded into these companies with Machiavellian precision: Infinite scrolling and push notifications keep users constantly engaged; personalized recommendations use data not just to predict but also to influence our actions, turning users into easy prey for advertisers and propagandists.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/movies/the-social-dilemma-review.html

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  • A Real Doctor Watches "The Social Dilemma"

  • Note to me: Narcissism and materialism are two of the four legs of American culture (Greed and Racism are the others enshrined in Law) Social Media companies continue to create intentionally addictive platforms that monetize narcissism and materialism.

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    Never before have a handful of tech designers had such control over the way billions of us think, act, and live. Silicon Valley insiders reveal how social media platforms are reprogramming society by exposing the other side of your screen.

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