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A shocking documentary on the dangers of social networks
By Israa Radaydeh, Jordan News
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The documentary “The Social Dilemma”, directed by Jeff Orlowski,
denounces the dangers and negative consequences using the internet can have on
our daily livesاضافة اعلان
The documentary follows the story of a family whose members use social networks and reveals the worst consequences they can have on a person: invasion of privacy, manipulation, suicide, hate speech; all the dangers are discussed and highlighted.
(Photos: Royal Film Commission)
Friday's screening of the film is organized by the Royal Film Commission and UNESCO, and coincides with the World Press Freedom day.
The movie is built around interviews with former decision makers from Facebook, Pinterest or Google, men and a few women who have contributed significantly to the development of these platforms and who now warn against the effects of their creations on the mental health of users and the very foundations of society.
Orlowski decided to make this documentary after meeting people who deny the existence of climate change. He wanted to understand why and how these people got to be convinced of this theory, and quickly realized that social networks had manipulated them.
The underlying idea of the documentary is clear: there is an assumed desire to manipulate the behavior of users.
The various testimonies in the documentary reveal the hidden mechanisms of social networks that can endanger internet users by affecting their psychology.
The staging of the repentant
Former engineers, computer scientists, and managers of financial optimization who left the houses whose power they had helped to manufacture – Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat – are beating their guilt by saying that they had created the devil and are sincerely sorry. It would now be up to us, simple users, to unplug these machines on which we would have become dramatically dependent.
But what exactly do they blame social networks for? For having become, over the years, a huge enterprise of surveillance and control in the service of an ever more voracious capitalism. Everyone’s online activities are observed, tracked and measured, while algorithms exploit users’ cognitive biases to increase their consumption times, obtain more money and/or personal information, guide their choices and ensure the success of advertisers.
Surveillance capitalism
In the field of internet video games, the so-called “Free to play” game has established itself. However, the “free” does not remain free for long. Algorithms of which the player is unaware manipulate his choices in such a way as to make him play always longer, spend always more money and bring always more monetizable personal data to the platform that hosts his game.
In addition, this new game model gives a central place to the visibility of the player, in particular through platforms like Twitch, in such a way that the power of social networks, which is the quest for visibility, is also widely exploited there.
Digital collapsology
But is it really the algorithms that drive us, or the humans that manipulate them? To believe these pentiti, the algorithms they made would now work on their own. In reality, they function only at the cost of a mass of miserable employees spending their time correcting their inevitable faults. Like any learner, algorithms make mistakes that humans must constantly correct and put back on the right track.
The algorithms that direct us
Everything we do online is tracked and analyzed. What image holds our attention, for how long, what content we subscribe to, what links we click on… Little by little, the system identifies our personality, our interests, our behavior and even our neuroses. Thus, it can not only predict, but also influence our reactions with increasing precision, turning users into easy prey for advertisers and propagandists, whether private or state-owned.
The film depicts how algorithms use psychology to keep us addicted to our screens, according to techniques studied and taught by the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University. “A friend just tagged me. I have an alert! Ah, Facebook just invited me to an event…”
So many “intermittent positive reinforcements” that keep us checking our phones repeatedly, like a compulsive gambler hoping for the jackpot at a slot machine.
The manipulation of our behavior by predictive artificial intelligence in order to keep us online as long as possible, the collection of our data and their sale to the highest bidder…, ‘The Social Dilemma’ confirms that all this was wanted and encoded with Machiavellian precision.
Political radicalization and loss of self-esteem
The analysis is not in itself a great revelation, but the comments made are all the more credible as they come from the designers of these algorithms. Former employees of Facebook, Google, Instagram and Pinterest deliver exciting elements. Some say they were not always aware of what they were doing. One, who worked on the implementation of likes on Facebook, specifies that he only wanted to bring love. Cruel irony when we know that this feature is today criticized for its consequences on the mental health of adolescents.
Very well designed, ‘The Social Dilemma’ alternates between documentary and fictional scenes that show the consequences of social networks on an American family. We can see to what extent these can be a real problem in the formation of an adolescent, or even lead to political radicalization for some.
The whole is therefore overwhelming for the web giants. Several stakeholders nevertheless remain hopeful. Indeed, it seems that good regulation is still possible and allows the positive effects of the platforms to be maintained, while repelling the negative effects. Others, on the contrary, advocate very vigorous measures, a dismantling, even a ban, and do not believe for a second that the solution can come from large companies busy accumulating profits.
Read more Entertainment
Jordan News
The documentary follows the story of a family whose members use social networks and reveals the worst consequences they can have on a person: invasion of privacy, manipulation, suicide, hate speech; all the dangers are discussed and highlighted.
(Photos: Royal Film Commission)
Friday's screening of the film is organized by the Royal Film Commission and UNESCO, and coincides with the World Press Freedom day.
The movie is built around interviews with former decision makers from Facebook, Pinterest or Google, men and a few women who have contributed significantly to the development of these platforms and who now warn against the effects of their creations on the mental health of users and the very foundations of society.
Orlowski decided to make this documentary after meeting people who deny the existence of climate change. He wanted to understand why and how these people got to be convinced of this theory, and quickly realized that social networks had manipulated them.
The underlying idea of the documentary is clear: there is an assumed desire to manipulate the behavior of users.
The various testimonies in the documentary reveal the hidden mechanisms of social networks that can endanger internet users by affecting their psychology.
The staging of the repentant
Former engineers, computer scientists, and managers of financial optimization who left the houses whose power they had helped to manufacture – Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat – are beating their guilt by saying that they had created the devil and are sincerely sorry. It would now be up to us, simple users, to unplug these machines on which we would have become dramatically dependent.
But what exactly do they blame social networks for? For having become, over the years, a huge enterprise of surveillance and control in the service of an ever more voracious capitalism. Everyone’s online activities are observed, tracked and measured, while algorithms exploit users’ cognitive biases to increase their consumption times, obtain more money and/or personal information, guide their choices and ensure the success of advertisers.
Surveillance capitalism
In the field of internet video games, the so-called “Free to play” game has established itself. However, the “free” does not remain free for long. Algorithms of which the player is unaware manipulate his choices in such a way as to make him play always longer, spend always more money and bring always more monetizable personal data to the platform that hosts his game.
In addition, this new game model gives a central place to the visibility of the player, in particular through platforms like Twitch, in such a way that the power of social networks, which is the quest for visibility, is also widely exploited there.
Digital collapsology
But is it really the algorithms that drive us, or the humans that manipulate them? To believe these pentiti, the algorithms they made would now work on their own. In reality, they function only at the cost of a mass of miserable employees spending their time correcting their inevitable faults. Like any learner, algorithms make mistakes that humans must constantly correct and put back on the right track.
The algorithms that direct us
Everything we do online is tracked and analyzed. What image holds our attention, for how long, what content we subscribe to, what links we click on… Little by little, the system identifies our personality, our interests, our behavior and even our neuroses. Thus, it can not only predict, but also influence our reactions with increasing precision, turning users into easy prey for advertisers and propagandists, whether private or state-owned.
The film depicts how algorithms use psychology to keep us addicted to our screens, according to techniques studied and taught by the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University. “A friend just tagged me. I have an alert! Ah, Facebook just invited me to an event…”
So many “intermittent positive reinforcements” that keep us checking our phones repeatedly, like a compulsive gambler hoping for the jackpot at a slot machine.
The manipulation of our behavior by predictive artificial intelligence in order to keep us online as long as possible, the collection of our data and their sale to the highest bidder…, ‘The Social Dilemma’ confirms that all this was wanted and encoded with Machiavellian precision.
Political radicalization and loss of self-esteem
The analysis is not in itself a great revelation, but the comments made are all the more credible as they come from the designers of these algorithms. Former employees of Facebook, Google, Instagram and Pinterest deliver exciting elements. Some say they were not always aware of what they were doing. One, who worked on the implementation of likes on Facebook, specifies that he only wanted to bring love. Cruel irony when we know that this feature is today criticized for its consequences on the mental health of adolescents.
Very well designed, ‘The Social Dilemma’ alternates between documentary and fictional scenes that show the consequences of social networks on an American family. We can see to what extent these can be a real problem in the formation of an adolescent, or even lead to political radicalization for some.
The whole is therefore overwhelming for the web giants. Several stakeholders nevertheless remain hopeful. Indeed, it seems that good regulation is still possible and allows the positive effects of the platforms to be maintained, while repelling the negative effects. Others, on the contrary, advocate very vigorous measures, a dismantling, even a ban, and do not believe for a second that the solution can come from large companies busy accumulating profits.
Read more Entertainment
Jordan News
