Big data is such a powerful tool because everything you do online is monitored. What images you look at, for how long youâre engaged with an image, your current moods, your browsing history, your personality traits, gps coordinates, etc. There is an immense amount of information that can be tracked and recorded by the internet. Using this big data, social media platforms are able to predict what you will be doing therefore, they can personalize links and ârecommended for youâ links to see what will keep you hooked on social media. Something really weird about that has actually happened to me is when I plug my phone in to carplay, it immediately maps me to some place I was previously talking about. Itâs scary to think that even though these social media platforms are free to sign up for, you are the product. Your attention is being sold to different advertisers who are competing for your time. We are all lab rats being used in experiment after experiment to try and determine what will be the most optimal for overall engagement. Social media experts purposely try to manipulate your psychological behavior as fast as possible by implementing different experiments to see which method of advertisement or which types of posts/videos will generate the most engagement on their specific platform.
There are three technology goals according to The Social Dilemma. The first goal is engagement, which hopes to drive up usage. The second goal is growth, which will keep you coming back, inviting your friends and getting friends to engage with the platform. Lastly, is the advertising goal, which essentially is the goal of generating as much profit as possible. Each of these goals are powered by different algorithms, whose jobs are to figure out what to show you on each platform to ensure you will remain on the app for as long as possible, and to keep you coming back for more. This is extremely important to the social media world because algorithms are driven by big data. The data that is collected by âmonitoringâ your social media usage is exported into a computer that can create an algorithm based on what was humanly written.
The danger of the use/abuse of big data, algorithms and social media can vary on multiple different aspects. It scared me a little when I was made aware of how technologists can be compared to magicians, who were among the first to understand a different aspect of peopleâs minds. The documentary mentioned that magic illusions work because magicians are able to tap into a part of an individualâs mind that they donât know exists. Having this perspective described to me really showed me how dangerous social media really is. Â Technology has to deal with a larger aspect of psychology than I can even comprehend. They also compared phones to slot machines in Vegas because whenever you have your phone laying on your desk or your bed, you just check it to see if there is a notification there. This unconscious behavior is a design technique, just like it is with the slot machines in Vegas to see what youâll get if you pull the lever one more time.
The discussion about photo tagging was extremely intriguing to me also, and can also be a danger/abuse of algorithms. Social media platforms purposely notify you when you have been tagged in a photo, but donât include the photo in the notification. Having the photo on the notification pop-up would make it much easier and faster to quickly see what photo it is, however, they purposely donât include it to make you go on the app to see what photo you were tagged in. This will increase their engagement goal, especially when it is a photo of yourself. This also has to do with the growth goal because tagging in photos allows friends of tagged people to see the post, and engage with it using the comments and/or likes feature. This is known as growth hacking. Â
Another danger that really hooked me was the discussion about tools-based technology. The example provided was bicycles are a tool, just sitting there waiting until you need it. Social media on the other hand, is not a tool. Itâs demanding things from you and is manipulating you. Weâve moved away from having a tools-based technology to an addictive and manipulative technology because of social mediaâs idea of using your psychology against you to generate engagement and growth.
Additionally, another danger has to deal with self-worth and identity. It matters to everyone what people in our âtribeâ think of us. But we were not supposed to be built to experience what thousands of people think of us. This âfake popularityâ on social media with like counts and comment counts forces individuals to think of what is next so they can gain that sense of popularity and that spike in dopamine again. This has increased depression and anxiety amongst teenagers. There was a conducted study of U.S. Hospital admissions for non-fatal self harm per 100,000 girls which concluded to have increased 62% since 2009 in girls ages 15-19, and increased 189% since 2009 in girls ages 10-14. This can be blamed on social media algorithms keeping them addicted to their phones and social media platforms.
I think that the biggest danger also correlates with why algorithms are so important. It is the fact that not very many people working at these social media companies even understand them. Algorithms are opinions written in code written with the goal of their definition of success, which at most times, is profit. Everyday, these computers installed with the written algorithms are getting better and better at picking the next post, or the next video, or the next tweet to keep you on the platform for longer. The scary part about this is that the machine is doing all the work, which means the algorithm is controlling us more than we are controlling it. This can be proven because multiple of the interviewees who have previously worked for a social media platform can also say that even though they see and understand the behind the scenes work of addiction, they too, are addicted to their phones.
As for how these problems can be dealt with on a personal, professional and societal level, it seems humanly impossible. For a personal aspect, you have to stop giving into social media, which I have experience with saying that it is easier said than done. Social media experts have done an incredible job with keeping the public entertained and addicted to it. It is nice to have the âdo not disturbâ setting, and the âsleepâ setting on our phones because it makes sure those pesky notifications donât pop up while those settings are turned on. Taking advantage of those settings can be a way to deal with the social dilemma on a personal level. As for professional settings, âoffice hoursâ are a great way to keep individuals off of their phones (texting/emailing), and gives them the opportunity to meet face-to-face. This is something that can be a benefit in an educational setting, and a business setting. Another way to deal with the social dilemma in the professional world is to keep business settings professional and traditional. Host meetings face-to-face, and have as much in person interaction as possible. As for a societal resolution, we have to find a way to agree to disagree. As we are all aware of, social media does a great job of splitting up people. This was evident during the 2016 and 2020 elections. Democrats were only shown democratic opinions online, and vice versa for republicans. This was an example provided in the documentary. Again, this is harder than it sounds, but individuals need to agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, and we all need to learn to agree to disagree. Throughout history, the documentary mentioned that everytime something improves or changes, itâs because of critics. Without critics, we would never see room for improvement, or realize whatâs wrong with our companies. Without someone calling it into question, nothing will happen. As an overall resolution, we must speak out for things that we believe are unethical.