Post by robeiae on Dec 3, 2020 13:29:36 GMT -5
It's a new doc on Netflix that's getting a lot of attention. I watched it last night, thought it was pretty good.
Here's the film's website: www.thesocialdilemma.com/
Here's the wiki entry for it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Dilemma
The wiki summary:
My takes:
1) I really don't enjoy having the architects of doom tell me how they fucked everyone over and that I need to listen to them now so they can tell me how to fix everything (oddly, the film criticizes Zuckerberg for basically suggesting the same thing, that the tech folks can fix this, but different tech folks than the ones in the doc).
2) There's a certainly amount of hilarious dark comedy here, with regard to social media and there efforts to dial down the spread of "fake news." It was their algorithms that gave fake news a platform; without those algorithms, it's likely that there's no massive spread.
3) I don't think the film sufficiently addresses how social media has basically caved to authoritarianism in many places. It talks about Myanmar, true enough, but gives China a huge pass. The cynic in me says this is because Netflix has a long-term plan to take a huge chunk of the Chinese market. And if I'm right, that kinds submarines the entire doc, from an ethical standpoint.
All that said, I recommend seeing it, if you haven't already. And I think middle schoolers and older should definitely see it.
Here's the film's website: www.thesocialdilemma.com/
Here's the wiki entry for it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Dilemma
The wiki summary:
The Social Dilemma is a 2020 American docudrama film directed by Jeff Orlowski and written by Orlowski, Davis Coombe, and Vickie Curtis. It explores the rise of social media and the damage it has caused to society, focusing on its exploitation of its users for financial gain through surveillance capitalism and data mining, how its design is meant to nurture an addiction, its use in politics, its effect on mental health (including the mental health of adolescents and rising teen suicide rates), and its role in spreading conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and aiding groups such as flat-earthers.
The film features interviews with many former employees, executives and other professionals from top tech companies and social media platforms, who provide their first-hand experiences of working in and around the tech industry. Interviewees state that social media platforms and big tech companies have been instrumental in providing positive change for society; they also note that such platforms have also caused problematic social, political, and cultural consequences. These interviews are presented alongside dramatizations of a teenager’s social media addiction and a primer on how a social media algorithm powered by artificial intelligence may work.
The film features interviews with many former employees, executives and other professionals from top tech companies and social media platforms, who provide their first-hand experiences of working in and around the tech industry. Interviewees state that social media platforms and big tech companies have been instrumental in providing positive change for society; they also note that such platforms have also caused problematic social, political, and cultural consequences. These interviews are presented alongside dramatizations of a teenager’s social media addiction and a primer on how a social media algorithm powered by artificial intelligence may work.
1) I really don't enjoy having the architects of doom tell me how they fucked everyone over and that I need to listen to them now so they can tell me how to fix everything (oddly, the film criticizes Zuckerberg for basically suggesting the same thing, that the tech folks can fix this, but different tech folks than the ones in the doc).
2) There's a certainly amount of hilarious dark comedy here, with regard to social media and there efforts to dial down the spread of "fake news." It was their algorithms that gave fake news a platform; without those algorithms, it's likely that there's no massive spread.
3) I don't think the film sufficiently addresses how social media has basically caved to authoritarianism in many places. It talks about Myanmar, true enough, but gives China a huge pass. The cynic in me says this is because Netflix has a long-term plan to take a huge chunk of the Chinese market. And if I'm right, that kinds submarines the entire doc, from an ethical standpoint.
All that said, I recommend seeing it, if you haven't already. And I think middle schoolers and older should definitely see it.
