The Social Dilemma

 

The Social Dilemma 

        This week in Social Media class, we watched a film on Netflix called The Social Dilemma. This was a documentary on how social media companies are harvesting our data and selling it to advertisers for them to make a profit. This documentary had numerous people who worked for Google or other big-name companies. The primary spokesperson was a man named Tristian Harris. Mr. Harris was an employee of Google. His job was to design the ethicist, but then he left Google because he felt his career turned into something more profound. He claims that Google focused more on collecting your data and predicting what you would do next. Now he is a spokesperson against Google and other big companies to help prevent our data from being collected and sold. 

        My thoughts on the documentary were mixed feelings. It was very interesting how these companies do everything they can to keep you connected to their devices as long as possible. This makes sense because you would think if companies truly cared about your personal health, they would make a time limit when using their platform. But by doing this, they would be losing out tons of money if they did this. 

         Why I disagree with the documentary. I disagree with this film because if these people are correct and saying social media and other platforms are so bad and horrible. Then why do they continue to use these platforms in their everyday lives? They say don't do this but then turn around and do it themselves. If these people were off the grid and not using these platforms, maybe I could respect their opinions more. 

        I'd love to hear from you all. Drop a comment down below if you agree or disagree with me. Or have you ever watched The Social Dilemma? If so, what are your thoughts?